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FIRST CHURCH IN NEWARK. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSES, 



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ORIGINALLY DELIVERED TO THE CONGREGATION OP THAT CHURCH DURING THE 
MONTH OP JANUARY, 1851. 



BY JONATHAN F. STEARNS, D. D., 

PASTOR OP THE CHURCH, 




WITH NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



i 



NEWARK : 

MBTNTED AT THE DAILY ADVERTISER OFFICE. 
1853. 

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Entered according to Act of Congress A. D. 1853, by Jonathan F. Stearns, 
in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, in and for 
the State of New Jersey. 



PREFACE. 



These Discourses were prepared, originally, without 
the remotest reference to publication ;' indeed, the 
writer had no intention, at the beginning, beyond the 
preparation of a single practical discourse, founded on 
a slight glance at the history of the congregation, the 
early part of which he then supposed had been traced 
with sufficient minuteness and accuracy by another 
hand. But this supposition was soon found to be 
erroneous ; and, as he proceeded, the materials so grew 
upon his hands that he was insensibly led to extend 
his narrative to the space of four pulpit discourses. 
In preparing them for the press, it seemed necessary 
to pay more regard to completeness and accuracy than 
had entered into the original plan. In order to this, 
much must be added, and many obscure points care- 
fully re-examined. The labor incident to such inqui- 
ries no one knows who has not tried the experiment. 
The materials must be collected from the widest 
spaces, and brought into true connection with each 



vi PREFACE. 

other by the most careful consideration of times and 
circumstances. The determination of a date may often 
require to be pursued through volumes, pamphlets, 
records and obscure manuscripts, the examination of 
which will cost days of toil, and access to them be ob- 
tained only by the tardy process of correspondence, or 
by visiting in person remote places. And after all, 
perhaps, the result is one which the ordinary reader 
will either not notice, or regard as a mere matter of 
course. 

In the pursuit of these objects, most of the discourses 
have been entirely re-written. Some of them have 
been extended to a length manifestly incompatible 
with their original design. Details have been de- 
scended to, which, however valuable in a local history, 
as contributing to complete the picture of the men 
and the times, seem hardly suitable to the dignity and 
sacredness of the pulpit. And as scarcely a third of 
the matter now presented was contained in the dis- 
courses as delivered, the writer has hesitated whether 
he should not abandon the original plan, and give the 
work the form of a continuous narrative. But, besides 
the necessity of re-casting the whole, should that 
change be adopted, the present form seems to have 
some advantages, at least for the people specially con- 
cerned ; and he has concluded to let it stand as it is. 



PREFACE. Vll 

The sources from which the facts have been drawn 
are generally indicated by foot-notes, especially in the 
earlier periods. Besides various well-known histories, 
genealogical publications, pamphlets, &c, which need 
not be mentioned here; the original records of the 
town of Newark ; the printed minutes of the old Pres- 
bytery of Philadelphia and the Synods prior to the 
formation of the General Assembly; the records of 
the various Presbyteries with which the Church has 
been connected, from the year 1774 to the present 
time ; the records of the Church as far'as they extend ; 
the records of the Board of Trustees, and various 
packages of old deeds, wills, letters, &c, &c, have 
been carefully examined. It is much to be regretted 
that the records of the Church, extending from the 
year 1696 to the time of the Bevolutionary war, were 
destroyed when the British troops had possession of 
the town in 1776, and those which remain date back 
only to August, 1781, after Dr. Macwhorter's return 
from the South. 

It seems necessary to say a word respecting the ef- 
forts of this venerable pastor to preserve the Church's 
history, when it seemed passing into hopeless oblivion. 
Dr. Macwhorter's Century Sermon has been the author- 
ity for most of the statements which have been made 
since his time. Besides this, however, he wrote two 



V1U PEEFACE. 

other sketches — one in the introduction to the first 
volume of the Sessional Records, and the other in re- 
sponse to a call from the General Assembly for mate- 
rials for a History of the Presbyterian Church. This 
last is the one quoted by Dr. Hodge in his " Constitu- 
tional History," under the title of " Manuscript History 
of Dr. Macwhorter," and is referred to in this narrative 
under the same name. All these sketches contain 
material errors. Dr. M., as he informs us, relied for 
his authority chiefly upon tradition. "All I can say," 
says he, " must consist of a few brief hints, as I possess 
no documents or written materials whence even those 
hints are derived, except what have been taken from 
the relations of old people to me in former times. 
Therefore it must not be expected that they will be 
very accurate, nor will I vouch for the perfect truth of 
all that may be said." As a specimen of this inaccur- 
acy, I may refer to what he says of the influence of 
the Saybrook Platform in shaping the affairs of this 
Church, years before that platform was framed ; or to 
the case of the Rev. Mr. Bowers, whom he represents 
as having been dismissed for reasons not now known, 
and to have died in 1721, in his thirty-fourth year; 
whereas his tomb-stone shows that he died in the year 
1716, in his forty-third year, and the records of the 
town plainly indicate that he retained the pastoral 



PREFACE. IX 

office till his decease. Dr. Maewhorter's narratives 
are valuable, but of course cannot be relied upon, 
wherever unquestionable documents contradict their 
statements. 

In preparing these discourses, the writer has received 
valuable assistance from William A. Whitehead, Esq.. 
Dr. S. H. Pennington, Mr. James Ross. Rev. William 
E. Schenek, Rev. James Richards, D. D., Rev. Richard 
Webster, Rev. Stephen Dodd of East Haven. Rev. 
Lyman Atwater, D. D.. of Fairfield, Conn., and Rev. 
Samuel SewaU of Burlington, Mass. ; but especially from 
Mr. S. H. Congar, the indefatigable antiquarian of Xew- 
ark. The map and its explanations are Mr. Congar'-. 
His thanks are due to Rev. Dr. Hodge, for the use of 
manuscripts belonging to him as historian of the 
Presbyterian Church, and to Rev. Dr. James AY. Alex- 
ander, for the use of letters respecting Rev. Aaron 
Burr, and the Latin oration of the learned President, 
to which reference has been made in these pages. 

It can hardly be presumed that perfect accuracy has 
been secured amidst so many minute particulars. But, 
accidental errors excepted, the statements, it is believed, 
will be found reliable. Wherever an opinion has been 
expressed, it has been introduced distinctly as an opin- 
ion, and will pass for what it is worth. Where tradi- 
tionary statements have been made, their source has 



X PEEFACE. 

been indicated. In general, wherever any donbt has 
existed respecting any fact or representation, the 
authority has been referred to, that the reader may 
weigh it for himself. 

With these explanations, the following pages are 
committed to the judgment of the candid. If the 
result shall be to preserve the memory of a most 
worthy race "of men, and the early fortunes of a most 
useful Christian organization ; if the spirit of the fa- 
thers may thereby be transferred to the children, not 
only of this but of succeeding generations, and thus a 
benefit conferred on a beloved Church, for whose 
spiritual good it is the writer's pleasure to labor, his 
efforts will be more than compensated. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



DISCOURSE I. 

Introduction. Relations of Church and Town. Causes of the settlement 
of Newark. xVffairs in New Haven and Connecticut. State of the Province 
of New Jersey. The Concessions. Purchase of Newark Township. "Fun- 
damental Agreement." Object of the settlers. Internal Regulations. The 
name "Newark." Origin of the Church. Ministry of Abraham Pierson, 
' senior. His origin, and Missionary labors. Character of the leading men 
in the Settlement. Wholesome Regulations. The Civil and Divine Right. 
Prompt payment of quit-rents. Collision with the Proprietary Government 
of New Jersey. Defence of Rights against Proprietary Encroachment. 
Conquest of the Province by the Dutch. Usurpation of Andros. Treat- 
ment of the Indians. First Meeting-house erected. Death of Abraham 
Pierson, senior. Ministry of Abraham Pierson, junior. Glimpse of the 
Congregation. Meeting-house fortified, and the worshippers armed. Death 
of many of the first settlers. Dismission of Abraham Pierson, junior. His 
Character. Conclusion, (pp. 1-93.) 

DISCOURSE II: 

Introduction. Second generation of the men of Newark. Ministry of 
John Prudden. His origin and settlement. His dismission and retirement 
from the Ministry. Origin of the Parsonage property. Ministry of Jabez 
Wakeman. His character and early death. Samuel Whittlesy is invited to 
become Pastor, and declines. Oppressive and vexatious conduct of Lord 
Cornbury. Rev. Francis Makemie finds sympathizers in Newark. Minis- 
try of Nathaniel Bowers. Erection of the second Meeting-house. First 
Church in Orange organized. Ministry of Joseph Webb. Introduction of 
Presbyterianism. The Church joins the Presbytery of Philadelphia. State 
of the Presbyterian Churches. Difficulties about candidates for the Minis- 
try. About Government. The "Adopting Act." Modifications and ex- 
planations of that Act. Presbytery of East Jersey. Dutch Congregation 
at Belleville gathered. Introduction of Episcopacy in New Jersey. Trinity 
Church organized. Col. Josiah Ogden's relations with it. Episcopal con- 
troversy. Mr. Webb's dismission. His death and character. Concluding- 
remarks, (pp. 95-149.) 



xii 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



DISCOURSE III. 

Ministry of Aaron Burr. His origin, early education and conversion. His 
call and settlement. Revival of religion in his congregation. Whitcfield's 
first visit. Burr's character as a Preacher and Pastor. His call to New 
Haven. Ordination of David Brainerd as Missionary to the Indians of New 
.Jersey. Presbytery of New York formed. The Great Schism in the Pres- 
byterian Church. Causes of it. Attempts at mediation. Remonstrance of 
the Presbytery of New York. Separation. Formation of the Synod of 
New York. " Old side" and " New side." College of New Jersey founded. 
Its first Charter and beginnings at Elizabethtown. Temporary suspension 
of the Enterprise. New Charter obtained. College founded anew. Opened 
at Newark. Burr appointed its President. Its first Commencement. Pros- 
perity of the College under President Burr. Mr. Burr's marriage. Char- 
acter of Mrs. Burr. Trustees of the Church incorporated. Prosperity of 
the Synod of New York. Mr. Burr's influence in it. Secular prosperity of 
Newark. Mr. Burr's dismission, and the removal of the College to Prince- 
ton. Death of President Burr. Ministry of John Brainerd. Uncertainty 
about it. Ministry of Alexander Macwhorter. His early life and education. 
His entrance on the Ministry. His call and settlement in Newark. Con- 
tentions about Parsonage property. Disposition of the question in dispute. 
Macwhorter's early Ministry. Attachment of the people to him. His mis- 
sionary excursions, His estimation with his brethren. American Revolu- 
tion. Day of Fasting and Thanksgiving. Army in Newark. Macwhorter 
follows the army. Parsonage house rifled by the enemy. Macwhorter's 
removal to North Carolina. His return and re-settlement. Newark recov- 
ers its prosperity. Revival of 1784. Improvement in Church Discipline. 
State of the Congregation. House of worship repaired. Present house of 
worship erected. New mode of electing Trustees. Church in Bloomfield 
gathered. Dr. Macwhorter's standing in the Church at large. General As- 
sembly of the Presbyterian Church formed. Baptist and Methodist Denom- 
inations introduced into Newark. Character, Last Days and Decease of Dr. 
Macwhorter. His Funeral and Epitaph, (pp. 151-261.) 

DISCOURSE IV. 

Introduction. Ministry of Edward Dorr Griffin. Mr. Griffins Origin, 
Education and Conversion. His Licensure ; Ordination in New Hartford, 
Conn. ; Marriage ; Temporary Labors in Orange, N. J., and Settlement in 
Newark. Griffin's early views. His animating presages. His early reli- 
gious experiences. His early Interview with Mr. Richards. New Parson- 



1 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. X\U 

age House built. Revival of 1S07. Dr. Griffin's Dismission. Subsequent 
life, and Character. James Richards. His early life. Ministry at 
Morristown. Removal to Newark. Presbytery of Jersey. Plan for new 
Churches. Second Presbyterian Church. First Sabbath School. Revivals. 
Prevalence of Intemperance. Discouraging appearances. Removal of Dr. 
Richards. His character. Parallel between Griffin and Richards. Synod 
of New Jersey. William T. Hamilton's ministry. Third Presbyterian 
Church formed. Final settlement of Church Property. Presbytery of 
Newark. Revival of 1832. New Churches. Ansel D. Eddy's ministry. 
Synod of Newark. Synod of New York and New Jersey. New Churches. 
Statistical Summary. Concluding Remarks. Appendix, (pp. 262-311.) 



* 



ERE AT A. 

Page 12, note, line 2, for " Pan," read Pau. 

" 17, line 8, for "friends," should probably be read freemen, though it 
is "friends" in the manuscript copy of the Town Kecords. 

" 17, line 12, the word "determine" closes the quotation. 

" 19, for "1767," read 1677. 

" 20, note, line 4, for "north-west" read noith-east. 

" 32, note, 2d column, line 3, for " his," read whose; and line 4, before 
"married," insert was. 

" 36, note, 1st column, line 26, for "Milford," read Branford. 

" " " " lines 27 and 28, for " Turner," read turner. 

" 73, title, for " Mornings," read morning. 

" 146, note, 2d column, line 7, "Memento Mori" is to be enclosed, in 
marks of quotation, as a part of the inscription. 

" 286, title, for "Prespyterian," read Presbyterian. 



HISTORICAL DISCOURSES. 



DISCOURSE NUMBER I. 
Ecclbsiastes, i : 4. One generation passeth away and another generation cometh. 

There are certain marked periods in the progress of 
human affairs, when it specially becomes the voyager 
to consult his chart, take an observation and consider 
whither he is going, and how far, and with what suc- 
cess, he has proceeded ; and this is true equally of 
communities as of individuals. Such a period may the 
present be regarded in the history of this congrega- 
tion. 

Without discussing the much disputed question, 
whether, in numbering the years of a century, we 
count one when the first year begins, or not till the 
clock of time has struck one, and the first annual pe- 
riod is completed, it is enough for our purpose, that 
the beginning of the present year completes half a 
century, since the history of this Church was last 
traced, in a century discourse by the venerable Mac- 
whorter, and just sixty years since the house where we 
are now assembled was first opened for public worship. 
Such an occasion I am unwilling to let slip, without 
at least reminding you that there is a Past to be re- 
viewed with interest and gratitude, though on many 



2 



RELATIONS OF CHURCH AND TOWN. 



points, I can scarcely do more than refresh the memo- 
ries of the old, and stimulate the inquiries of the young 
respecting matters better known to most of you than 
they are or can be to me. 

The fortunes of this venerable Church were, for 
many years, almost identical with that of the commu- 
nity in the midst of which it has so long flourished. 
"Whoever writes the history of the city of Newark, 
must begin, if he will do any justice to his subject, 
with tracing the early history of this congregation ; 
and in undertaking to give any thing like a correct 
view of the latter, it will be necessary to detail and 
explain many things, which may seem to belong more 
appropriately to the former. Indeed, although, theo- 
retically, there was a distinction made from the begin- 
ning between civil and ecclesiastical affairs, yet in prac- 
tice, it would be difficult to describe the line, between 
at least the temporalities of the Church, and the ordi- 
nary business of the body politic. During the first 
seventy years, the town transacted all the busi- 
ness of the congregation ; and the seventh minister, 
as were all his predecessors, was called to the office and 
had his salary fixed, by a vote of the town in town 
meeting. This Church is among the very oldest of our 
local institutions — perhaps the oldest of all. It was to 
establish it, and establish, under its fostering influence, 
a system of social order, of which its members should 
have the sole direction, that the fathers of this city 
came and planted themselves here in the wilderness. 

The original settlement of Newark was made, by a 



POLICY OF NEW HAVEN COLONY. 



3 



colony from what is now the State of Connecticut, then 
recently erected into a single Province, by a royal 
charter, uniting the two Colonies of Connecticut and 
New Haven. 

To a large portion of the people of New Haven 
Colony, this union was exceedingly offensive. Besides 
being brought about in a very arbitrary manner, with- 
out due consultation with them, and, in the first in- 
stance, against their consent, it involved the abandon- 
ment of some of their favorite principles. They had 
commenced their settlement in the wilderness, full of 
the spirit of that animating vision, which continually 
floated before the mind of the Puritan emigrant, to 
found a Church upon pure principles, and a State 
which, though separate in its jurisdiction, should act 
in perfect harmony with the Church, and be governed 
in all its procedure by the rules of God's Holy Word. 
They seem to have supposed, that by bringing up their 
children in the fear of God, and excluding from the 
exercise of power among them those who were not 
governed by the same principles, they might continue 
to be of one heart from generation to generation ; and 
" seeing they were free to cast themselves into that 
mould and form of commonwealth which appeared 
best for them, in reference to securing the peace and 
peaceable improvement of all Christ's ordinances in 
the Church," * it is scarcely strange that they adopted 
as a fundamental rule, after long deliberation, with not 
a single dissenting and only one questioning voice 
among them, " that Church members only shall be free 



* Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 504. 



4 



POLICY OF CONNECTICUT COLONY. 



burgesses ; and that they only shall choose magistrates 
and officers among themselves, to have power of trans- 
acting all public and civil affairs of this plantation." 
For the government of a great State or nation, em- 
bracing men of every class and character, and offering 
to all the best privileges and the largest liberty, this 
exclusive policy would be doubtless unwise ; but for 
an infant colony, where all were of one mind, and 
which might afterwards grow into a State, if hostile 
influences could be long enough averted, for the body 
to acquire strength, we ought to think long before we 
condemn it. Beyond a question, it was the only means 
by which the colonists could hope to realize their fa- 
vorite object ; and if that object itself must now be 
pronounced chimerical, all good men must agree, that 
it was noble in purpose, and worthy of being fairly 
tried, by those who had confidence in it, under the 
only circumstances which could justify the experiment. 

The people of Connecticut Colony, though they had 
not abandoned at all the same general object, had 
adopted, in their Constitution, a more liberal policy. 
Had they gone a step further, and, besides allow- 
ing men not connected with the Church to vote in civil 
affairs, prohibited the civil authority from interfering 
in any manner with the affairs of the Church, a com- 
parison must have been made in their favor under the 
light which modern experience has thrown upon mat- 
ters of this kind. But through neglect of this precau- 
tion, they not only left the religious character of the 
State to its own risks, but seriously endangered the 
Church's purity : a hazard which their more cautious 



EFFECT OF UNITING THE COLONIES. 



5 



neighbors of New Haven might well appreciate, when 
they found the General Court of that Colony both 
leading the way for the convening of an ecclesiastical 
Council,* against their strenuous remonstrances, and 
combining its influence with that of other secular 
bodies to procure the adoption of innovations in eccle- 
siastical order and discipline, which, as time has since 
proved, were of dangerous, not to say pernicious, ten- 
dency. The accomplished Wintheop was doubtless 
a better statesman, in the ordinary sense, than the pa- 
triarchal Davenpoet ; but having the same professed 
end in view — the establishment of a Christian Com- 
monwealth — he ought to have perceived that the 
omission of the restriction in question would require 
some corresponding measure of protection for the 
Church's interests. If the civil authority must be al- 
lowed to interfere in matters of religion, we cannot 
wonder that the fathers of the Church looked with 
jealous eye on the admission of merely worldly men, and 
perhaps among them the intolerant advocates of the 
ecclesiastical policy from whose abuses they had fled, 
to participate in such authority. Indeed, if this were 
the only alternative which the times afforded, we of 
the present day can hardly refrain from giving our ver- 
dict in favor of these same stern old adherents to the 
ancient way. 

It was manifest that the union of the two Colonies, 
in the existing circumstances, must have the effect to 
compel the people of New Haven to abandon without 
further trial this their cherished principle. It likewise 

* The Council convened at Boston 1657. Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, pp. 300, 308. 



6 



STATE INTERFERENCE WITH RELIGION. 



involved a virtual assent to the proceedings of the re- 
cent Synod,* called by the authorities of a neighboring 
Province, but highly approved and likely to be recog- 
nised as authority by the Government of Connecticut, 
in which, among other innovations, the " half-way 
covenant," as it was termed, had been adopted — that 
is, the extension of a part of the privileges of church- 
membership to those who were not, and by their want 
of personal piety, could not become members in full 
communion : an expedient to which the Churches of 
New Haven Colony were from the beginning stren- 
uously opposed. Already had the General Court of 
Connecticut given its sanction to the offensive measure ; 
and it may serve to illustrate both the temper of the 
times and the grounds on which the union of the two 
Colonies was opposed by the people of New Haven, 
that in the year 1664, in the very midst of the dispute 
on this subject, this same General Court " came to a 
resolve, with a view to enforce the resolution of the 
Synod" respecting the terms of church-membership, in 
the Churches within the bounds of their jurisdic- 
tion.f 

It was mainly the dissatisfaction arising out of this 
course of measures, which led to the settlement of the 
town of Newark. There were, among the emigrants, 
those who might have been disposed to favor the union 
on general grounds. Jasper Crane, one of the fathers 
of New Haven Colony, who, in the year 1639, sub- 
scribed its original Constitution in Mr. Newman's 

* The Synod of 1662, Trumbull's Hist. t Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 811. 
Conn., vol. 1, p. 310 



DISCONTENT IN NEW HAVEN COLONY. 



7 



barn, and had for several successive years served as one 
of its magistrates, was, in the year 1663, chosen to the 
same office in both the Colonies, and, when the union 
was effected in the year 1665, received the same token 
of confidence under the new charter. Matthew Cam- 
field and Obadiah Bruen were among the nineteen 
persons named in the charter itself. Robert Treat, 
the pioneer of the new settlement, refused to accept 
office under the falling government of his own 
Colony in the year 1664, and, in the following year, 
acted as a committee to consummate the union, 
Had proper regard been paid in the beginning to 
the rights of the smaller Colony, and proper time been 
taken for the adjustment of the points of difference, 
there is little doubt that the union might have been 
effected amicably. But when, against the remon- 
strances, and in violation of the sacred pledges of the 
illustrious Winthrop, the people of Connecticut be- 
gan to assume a tone of authority toward their neigh- 
bors, insisted upon their accession to the union, sent 
magistrates to obstruct the execution of the laws, and 
received under their own jurisdiction such of the in- 
habitants as were disposed to join them — thus dis- 
membering the little Colony and putting power into 
the hands of its internal enemies, " as if," say the ag- 
grieved, "you were in haste to make us miserable,' 7 
bitter resistance was the inevitable result.* And though 
most of them yielded to what had now become a plain 
matter of necessity, and for the general good, they 
yielded as men who had in mind a better and more 

* Trumbull, vol. 1, chap, xii ; see Winthrop's Letter, p. 520. 



8 



INVITING ASPECT OF NEW JEESEY. 



peaceful way to rid themselves of all grievances, and 
were soon fonnd making their plans to depart, with all 
their families and goods, out of the jurisdiction. 

It so happened, that just at this juncture, the Pro- 
vince of New Jersey was opening an inviting field, and 
seeking for settlers from the Colonies of New Eng- 
land. The Duke of York, afterwards James II of Eng- 
land, having received a grant from his royal brother, 
Charles II., of all the land comprehended between 
the rivers Connecticut and Delaware, claimed by 
him in the right of discovery, but most of which was 
then in the possession of the Dutch, had dispatched 
Col. Richard Nichols, whom he invested with the 
powers of government, to take forcible possession of 
it in his name ; and shortly afterwards, before posses- 
sion was actually acquired, sold, and by deed conveyed 
to John Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret all his 
interest in that part of his royal grant comprehended 
within the present limits of the State of New Jersey. 
Immediately the new Proprietors took measures to se- 
cure the settlement of their new domains. Proposals 
were drawn up and signed by them, entitled " The Con- 
cession and Agkeement of the Lords Proprietors of the 
Province of New Cjesaeea or New Jeesey, to and 
with all and every the Adventurers, and all such as shall 
settle or plant there and Philip Carteret, a brother 
of Sir George, was by them constituted Governor of 
the Province, and sent hither with instructions to carry 
into effect [the provisions of the Concessions. Mean- 
while, however, Col. Richard Nichols, having received 
a surrender from the Dutch, had granted lands to a 



THE CONCESSIONS. 



9 



few intended settlers, in the name of the Duke of 
York, and hence a conflict of titles subsequently arose, 
especially in Elizabethtown, where a few families, at 
most four in number, had actually settled. Philip 
Carteret, accompanied with thirty men, gentlemen 
and their servants, landed at Elizabethtown in the 
month of August, 1665 ; and having made such agree- 
ments with the settlers then in possession, as were prob- 
ably satisfactory to all parties, and supposed to be 
within the limits of his authority, purchased the claim 
of one of them, and became himself a settler. Soon 
after this — it does not appear how soon — the Governor 
sent messengers to ~New England to publish the Con- 
cession and Agreement of the Proprietors, and invite 
new settlers to his Province. 

The Concessions, which became in fact the funda- 
mental Constitution of the Province, contained provis- 
ions highly congenial to the spirit of New England 
men. The largest liberty of conscience was guaran- 
teed, with the assurance that the settlers should never 
be disturbed or disquieted for any difference in opinion 
or practice in religious concernments, " any law, usage 
or custom in the realm of England to the contrary not- 
withstanding." * A General Assembly was provided 
for, one branch of which was to consist of representa- 
tives chosen by the inhabitants in their respective par- 
ishes or districts, empowered to appoint their own 
time of meeting, constitute Courts, levy taxes, build 
fortresses, make war, offensive and defensive, natural- 
ize strangers, allot lands to settlers, provide for the 



* Grants, Concessions, &c, pp. 14-24. 



10 



DETERMINATION TO EMIGRATE. 



support of the Government, and ordain all laws for the 
good of the Province, not repugnant to the laws of 
England, nor against the Concessions of the Proprie- 
tors and their interest. Liberal offers were also made 
of lands for settlement, proportionate to the numbers 
of those who should come and occupy them, with only 
the reserve of a small quit-rent of a half-penny per 
acre, to be paid annually on and after the twenty-fifth 
day of March in the year 1670.* The climate, moreover, 
was mild in comparison with their own, and the lands 
were represented as fertile. 

Hither, therefore, did a considerable number of the 
disaffected from the towns of Milford, Branford, Guil- 
ford and New Haven, all within the limits of the for- 
mer Colony of New Haven, with individuals from other 
towns, determine to remove. Accordingly, very early 
in the following Spring, or perhaps earlier, a commis- 
sion, of whom Robert Treat was one,f came and made 
preparations for the settlement of a tract of land on 
the Passaic river ; and before the end of May in that 
same year, a company, amounting, it is said, to thirty 
families, J "from Milford and other neighboring plant- 
ations thereabouts,"§ were already on the ground, and 
busily engaged in laying plans for their future perma- 
nent abode. 

Meanwhile, however, a new class of claimants to the 
lands made their appearance. Treat had supposed 
that, in accordance with the instructions of the Pro- 
prietors, given to their Governor at his appointment, 

* Grants, Concessions, &c, pp. 14-24. % Whitehead, p. 45. 
t Bill in Chancery, p. 118. Robert § Newark Town Records. 
Treat's affidavit. 



PURCHASE FROM THE INDIANS. 



11 



" not in anywise to grieve or oppress" the native in- 
habitants, " but treat them with all humanity and 
kindness," measures had been taken already to satisfy all 
their demands, and give to him and his associates quiet 
possession. But this, though promised as he alleges, 
was not done ; and hence no sooner had the company 
arrived and landed some of their goods, than a party of 
the Hackinsack Indians warned them off the ground, 
saying the land was theirs and it was unpurchased * 
Determined at all events not to invade any of the 
rights of their savage predecessors — a rule to which 
their mother Colony had always adhered as fundamen- 
tal — the new comers put their goods immediately back 
into the vessel which brought them, and were on the 
point to return ; when, being dissuaded by the Gover- 
nor, and the Indians showing a disposition to sell the 
lands, they concluded they would make a fair purchase 
of the Indian title, and took a " bill of sale" under the 
Governor's advice and approbation. The amount paid 
cannot now be exactly estimated, but it was of suffi- 
cient importance to be distributed to each settler in 
exact proportions to the land occupied, and to be men- 
tioned in all the grants and conveyances of land for 
several years afterwards.f 

* See Treat's affidavit, Bill in Chancery, davits of Treat and Edsal, Bill in Chance- 

p. 118. ry, pp. 117-18.) The bill of sale bears 

t The purchase was made in the first date July 11th, 1667, and is signed by 

instance in the year 1666, by Robert Treat Obadiah Bruen, Michael Tompkins, Sam- 

and Samuel Edsal, as agents for the town, uel Kitchel, John Brown and Robert 

John Capteen, a Dutchman, acted as in- Denison on the part of the town, and Wa- 

terpreter, and the principal Sagamore pamuck, Harish, Captamin, Sessom, Mam- 

who negotiated the bargain was Perro, ustome, Peter, Wamesane, Wekaprokikan, 

who acted with the consent and approba- Cacnackque and Perawae on the part of 

tion of an aged Sagamore named Oraton, the Indians. The witnesses were Samuel 

at that time unable to travel. (See affi- Edsal, Edward Burrowes, Richard Fletch- 



12 



FIKST TOWN MEETING. 



The preliminary town meeting, the first of which 
there is a record, was held on the 21st of May, 1666, 
when "friends from Milford and the neighboring 
plantations thereabout" were the actual inhabitants ; 
and agents sent from Guilford and Branford met 
them "to ask, on behalf of their undertakers and 
selves, with reference to a township" to be occu- 
pied together by the two parties. At this meet- 
ing the grand object of the settlement was distinctly 
recognised. " It was agreed upon mutually, that the 
aforesaid persons from Milford, Guilford and Branford, 
together with their associates being now accepted of, 
do make one township ; provided, they send word so to 
be any time between this and the last of October next 
ensuing, and according to fundamentals mutually 
agreed upon, do desire to be of one heart and consent, 
[that] through God's blessing, with one hand, they may 
endeavor the carrying on of spiritual concernments, as 
also of civil and town affairs, accokdino to God and a 
Godly Goveknment there to be settled by them and 
their associates."* Then they chose a committee of 
eleven men, taken from both companies, viz : Captain 

er, Classe and Pierwim the Sachem of without it. However, by a subsequent 
Pan. This purchase extended to the foot deed, dated March 13, 1677-8, the limits 
of the mountain, and the price paid for it were extended to the top of the mountain 
was in articles as follows : "Fifty double for " two guns, three coats, and thirteen 
hands of powder, one hundred bars of cans of rum." The agents chosen by 
lead, twenty axes, twenty coats, ten guns, the town to make this purchase were Mr. 
twenty pistols, ten kettles, ten swords, Ward, Mr. Johnson, Samuel Harrison, and 
four blankets, four barrels of beer, ten [Thomas] Richards ; and John Curtis and 
pair of breeches, fifty knives, twenty hoes, John Treat were chosen to run the west 
eight hundred and fifty fathom of warn- line with the Indians and to meet with 
pum, twenty ankers of liquors or some- Edward Ball and Daniel Dod, who were 
thing equivalent, and three troopers' also chosen to run the north line with the 
coats." It seems plain from the words Indians and meet with the others on the 
"something equivalent" that the pur- mountain. See Whitehead, p. 43. E.J. Re- 
chasers did not intend to pay any part in cords. Newark Town Records, pp. 66, 69. 
liquors if they could satisfy the Indians * Newark Town Records, p. 1. 



BRADFORD EMIGRANTS. 



13 



Robert Treat, Lieut. Samuel Swaine, Mr. Samuel 
Kitchel, Michael Tompkins, Mr. [Thomas] Morris, Ser- 
geant Richard Berkly, Richard Harrison, Thomas 
Blatchley,Edward Riggs, Stephen Freeman and Thomas 
Johnson, " for the speedier and better expedition of 
things there emergent to be done," of whom any six 
or more, if there should be so many on the ground, or 
at the least not less than five, might act for the settle- 
ment of the place until another like committee should 
be chosen. 

The agents from Guilford and Branford having re- 
turned and made report of their commission, a large 
number of the people of Branford held a meeting on 
the 30th of October, 1666, "touching of the intended 
design." These men had been among the most deter 
mined opposers of the union of the Colonies, and their 
hearts were still set upon the favorite scheme of found- 
ing a pure Church and a Godly Government in the wilds 
of America. A portion of them, with their most en- 
terprising and truly apostolic pastor had once begun 
the experiment twenty years before,* on the eastern 
shores of Long Island, where after a few years of 
hopeful effort, they had left their homes and come to 
Branford, for the same reasons which now seemed to 
call for a new removal; and it was just like that 
sturdy old Puritan, Abraham Pierson, not to abandon 
a purpose which he believed vise and capable of good, 
so long as there was land enough unoccupied in all the 
wilderness on which to complete the experiment. Ac- 
cordingly, at this meeting two articles were adopted, 



* Thompson's Hist. L. I., vol. 1, p. 386. Trumbull's Hist, Conn., vol. 1, pp. 143, 144 



14 



FUNDAMENTAL AGREEMENT. 



and received the signature of twenty-three principal 
men of the town, as " the euistdamental agreement" 
on which they would engage in the new settlement — 
of which one was a promise " to provide with all care 
and diligence, for the maintenance of the purity of 
religion," and the other carefully restricted all civil 
power to those who should be members of some one 
or other of the Congregational Churches. When the 
report of this procedure reached the new settlement 
in November following, it was unanimously assented 
to by the inhabitants ; and at a public meeting, held on 
the 24th of June, in the year 1667, about the time, prob- 
bably, of the arrival of the Branford company, they all 
subscribed their names to the agreement, to the number 
of forty, making in the whole, with those who had 
subscribed before, sixty-three.* 

* This venerable document deserves a others admitted to be planters, have right 
permanent memorial in connection with to their proper inheritances, and do and 
the history of this Church. It stands as shall enjoy all other civil liberties and 
follows, with the signatures attached, on privileges according to all laws, orders, 
the Records of the Town of Newark. grants which are, or shall hereafter be 

made for this town. 



October 30, 1666. 



2. We shall, with care and diligence, 



At a meeting touching the intended de- provide for the maintenance of the purity 

sign of many of the inhabitants of Bran- f religion professed in the Congregational 

ford, the following was subscribed : Churches. 

Deut. i. 13 ; Exod. xviii. 21 ; Deut. xvii. Whereunto subscribed the inhabitants 

15; J erem. xxxvi. 2 1 . f rom Branford— 

1. That none shall be admitted freemen or Jasper Crane, Abra. Pierson, Samuel 

f ree Burgesses within our town upon Pas- Swaine, Laurence Ward, Thomas Blacth- 

saic river, in the Province of New Jersey, i y> Samuel Plum, Josiah Ward, Samuel 

but such planters as are members of some R se, Tbomas Pierson, John Ward, John 

or other of the Congregational Churches, Catling, Richard Harrison, Ebenezer Can- 

nor shall any but such be chosen to mag- field, John Ward, Sen., Ed. Ball, John 

istracy, or to carry on any part of civil ju- Harrison, John Crane, Thomas Hunting- 

dicature, or as deputies or assistants to ton, Delivered Crane, Aaron Blachthly, 

have power to vote in establishing laws, Richard Laurence, John Johnson, Thom- 

and making or repealing them, or to any as Lyon, [his L. mark], 

chief military trust or office; nor shall And upon the reception of these letters 

any but such church members have any and subscriptions, the present inhabitants 

vote in any such elections; though all in November following, declared their 



PURPOSE OF THE SETTLERS. 



15 



The settlement of Newark, in the years 1666 and 
1667, was probably the last attempt to realize the 
noble dream of the old Puritan emigrants* The re- 
strictions they adopted, with all their measures con- 
sequent thereon, betray no particle of the spirit of 
bigotry and fanaticism. They were measures, not of 
oppression, but of simple self-protection ; and as we 
hear of no dissentient voices in the whole band, it may 
fairly be presumed that they were equally in accord- 
ance with the views of those who were excluded from 
the power of government, as of those who were in- 
cluded. The simple design of their authors, was to 
prevent an enterprise on which they had set their 
hearts, and for whose success they were willing to 
make large sacrifices, from being frustrated in the 
beginning, by passing under the control of those who 



consent and readiness to do likewise, and 
at a meeting, the 24th of the next June 
following, in 1667, they also subscribed 
with their own hands unto the two funda- 
mental agreements expressed on the other 
side their names, as follows: 

Robert Treat, Obadiah Bruen, Matthew 
Camfield, Samuel Kitchell, Jeremiah Peck, 
Michael Tompkins, Stephen Freeman, 
Henry Lyon, John Browne, John Rogers, 
Stephen Davis, Edward Rigs, Robert 
Kitchell, John Brooks, [his B mark], 
Robert Lymens, [his V mark], Francis 
Linle, [his F mark], Daniel Tichenor, 
John Bauldwin, Sen., John Bauldwin, Jr., 
Jona. Tomkins, George Day, Thomas 
Johnson, John Curtis, Ephraim Burwell, 
Robert Denison, [his R mark], Nathan- 
iel Wheeler, William Camp, Joseph Wal- 
ters, Robert Dalglesh, Hans Albers, 
Thorn. Morris, Hugh Roberts, Ephraim 
Pennington, Martin Tichenor, John 
Browne, Jr., Jona. Seargeant, Azariah 
Crane, Samuel Lyon, Joseph Riggs, Ste- 



phen Bond. See Newark Town Records, 
p. 2, 

* What Cotton Mather says, in his 
quaint way, of the object of Pierson and 
his associates in their first enterprise at 
Southampton, may serve to illustrate the 
views and hopes with which he and his 
church came to Newark. After mention- 
ing that they formed themselves into a 
body politic, before they left Massachu- 
setts, " for the maintaining of government 
among themselves" in their new home, he 
adds, " thus was there settled a church at 
Southampton, under the pastoral charge 
of this worthy man, where he did, with 
laudable diligence, undergo two of the 
three hard labors, Diocentis et Regentis, to 
make it become what Paradise was called, 
an Island of the Innocent !" Without 
supposing that these views were realized, 
either there or here ; this we may say, 
few communities have approached nearer 
to the mark, than did the town of Newark 
during the continuance of that same old 
Puritan regime. 



16 



PENALTIES FOE THE REFRACTORY. 



could have no sympathy with its aims. Hence, while 
they confined the power of office, and even the elective 
franchise to church-members, they added in the very 
same instrument, "though all others, admitted to be 
planters, have right to their proper inheritances, and 
do and shall enjoy all other civil and religious privi- 
leges." 

As to any who might be refractory, the bill of pains 
and penalties in force among them, shall be allowed 
to tell its own story. It is as follows : — " It is 
agreed upon, that in case any shall come in to us, or 
arise amongst us, that shall willingly or wilfully dis- 
turb us in our peace and settlements, and especially 
that would subvert us from the true religion and wor- 
ship of God, and cannot or will not keep their opinion 
to themselves, or be reclaimed after due time and 
means of conviction and reclaiming hath been used ; it 
is unanimously agreed upon, and consented unto, as a 
fundamental Agreement and Order, that all such per- 
sons so ill-disposed and affected, shall" — O what ! — 
some direful penalty may be anticipated ! — visions of 
fines, and prisons, and stocks, and whipping-posts rise 
before us ! but let us hear — " shall, after due notice 
given them from the town, quietly depart the place 
seasonably, the town allowing them such valuable 
considerations for their lands or houses as indifferent 
men shall price them, or else leave them to make the 
best of them to any man the town shall approve of." 

The fundamental agreements, in both articles, every 
man who took up land within the Newark purchase, 
must first subscribe, with this additional one, equally 



LAW AMONG THEMSELVES. 17 

characteristic of the men who made it, " as their joint 
covenant one with another," and that at a time when 
there had been no legislative assembly convened, and 
of course no laws " settled in the Province that 
" they will from time to time all submit one to another 
to be led, ruled and governed by such magistrates and 
rulers in the town, as shall be annually chosen by the 
friends, from among themselves ; with such orders and 
laws whilst they are settled here by themselves, as 
they had in the place whence they came ; under such 
penalties as the magistrates upon the nature of the 
offence shall determine. 

It may be asked whether the settlers had the au- 
thority to establish such rules in regard to the terms 
of office and suffrage. In answer to this question it 
must be remembered, that they had purchased their 
lands at a fair price of the aboriginal claimants, and 
obtained as full a title as those claimants were capable 
of giving. They had also commenced their settlement 
with the approbation of the Proprietors' government, 
and held themselves obligated to the discharge of all 
their legal demands. True it is that purchase does 
not give the right of government, and the Concessions 
whose validity as law they did not dispute, make no 
mention of such authority. But neither do they mention 
the authority to establish Town Courts* which however 
the inhabitants erected, nor again to enact laws for the 

* Town Meeting, January 1, 1668-9 — diet of a jury of six men ; and one of the 

" Item. The town hath agreed that there times is to be the last fourth day of the 

shall be two Courts in our town yearly, to week, commonly called Wednesday, in 

hear and try all causes and actions that the month of February ; and the other is 

shall be necessary and desired within our the second Wednesday of the next follow- 

compass, and according to our articles ; ing month of September." Newark Town 

and that the same shall pass by the ver- Records, p. 11. 

2 



18 



THE AETICLES. 



regulation of their own internal affairs, which yet they 
did enact constantly. 

The truth is, that besides the Concessions, there 
were in the beginning, distinct aetioles of agree- 
ment between the government and the settlers in 
the different towns* Those with Woodbridge and 
Piscataway are still extant, and contain several 
of the same special privileges which Newark is 
known to have exercised. Those with Newark, fifteen 
in number, have long since been lost, but there is evi- 
dence sufficient that they once existed, and were en- 
tered into by the parties about the time of the arrival 
of the first company.^ These articles the people of 
Newark constantly referred to as the basis of their 
rights, J and, from the history of their formation, only 
one thing appears to have been asked by the settlers 
and denied by the Governor, and that was some abate- 
ment in the required quit-rents. In this, he said, he 
was not authorized to vary from the Concessions. Ac- 
cordingly the quit-rents never were refused by New- 
ark ; but who can doubt that, while they yielded this 
pecuniary claim, the firm and honest old puritans took 
care to insert an article, indulging them at least, in the 

* At a town meeting in January, 1669, the Concessions, and that one alteration 

'70, these articles were ordered to be "co- proposed, was concerning the quit-rent of 

pied out at a town charge." See Newark a half-penny sterling per acre, to which 

Town Records, p. 24. Governor Carteret answered, ' I cannot 

t In a statement of the Council of the grant any exemption from the payment 

Proprietors, made Sept. 14, 1747, that body of the half-penny per acre, it being all the 

pledge themselves to prove the existence advantage that the Lords Proprietors re- 

of these articles, and say of them, that serve to themselves,' &c. To another al- 

they " were settled with long thought and teration he said, ' as for the purchasers 

deliberation, and corrections and altera- being out of purse, I cannot help them 

tions mutually made, proposed and agreed therein,' " &c. (See Appendix to Bill in 

to in them ; and that Captain Treat and Mr. Chancery, p. 31.) 
Gregory, their agents in this affair, did read J Newark Town Records, passim. 



DISTRIBUTION OF LAND. 



19 



execution of their " fundamental agreement?" How 
otherwise shall we account for the fact, that they still 
continued to practice on that agreement directly 
under the eye of the Governor, and never had their 
authority to do so called in question ? The truth is 
that in the religious liberty guaranteed by the Con- 
cessions, " avarice," as it has been justly said, " paid its 
homage to freedom."* But then the avarice, getting its 
own ends fully answered, cared but little it is proba- 
ble beyond that, how the freedom might be exercised. 

It may be proper however to add here, that the 
restriction referred to does not seem to have been kept 
in force much beyond the life of the oldest men then 
on the stage ; nor was it long before all parties seem 
to have been convinced that such a restriction could 
not be of permanent utility.f 

The next thing to be agreed upon was the assign- 
ment to the several settlers of their respective places of 
residence, for, it seems, almost all affairs were con- 
ducted by " agreements," among this rigid and exclusive 
band of Puritan sectaries. They had come chiefly 
from two pairs of contiguous towns, lying on opposite 
sides of a small bay and river, and their exclusiveness 

* Bancroft's Hist. U. S., vol 1, p. the Clerk is to set their names in a list 
t The first indication of a departure and call them as others are called." Yet, 
from it is to he found in the record of a after this, I find the fundamental agree- 
to wn meeting held March I, 1777-8, a few ment recognized as if still in force, or 
months before the death of the elder not formally abrogated ; for in the month 
Pierson, which is as follows : "It is voted, of August, 1685, "William Camp and 
as a town act, that all and every man that John Baldwin, Jr., are chosen to go from 
improves lands in the town of Newark house to house of those as have not sub- 
shall make their appearance at town meet- scribed to our fundamental covenant, and 
ings, and there attend to any business that return their answer to the town." (See 
shall be proposed, as any of the planters Newark Town Records, pp. 68, 105.) This 
do, and be liable to any fine as others, in is j the latest recognition of it which I 
case of their absence, &c, and also that have been able to discover. 



20 NEIGHBOELY AFFECTION. 

here found a curious manifestation ; for having tasted 
of the sweets of good neighborhood in the old mother 
Colony, they were not ready yet to forego its special 
privileges in their new wild home. So it stands on 
record, that the one company " desired liberty to take 
up their home lots and quarters in a quarter together, 
for their better security and neighborhood," " which 
motion of theirs" the other company immediately " as- 
sented to." Then the lines having been drawn for the 
two broad streets, crossing each other at right angles 
in the centre of the town, it was again agreed that 
each party of " neighbors" should take up their home 
lots in the quarters where, as chance was, they had 
already begun to occupy. But first of all, in testimony 
of their respect and gratitude to the gallant leader of 
the little Colony, " the neighbors of Milford and New 
Haven," to which party he belonged, " freely gave way, 
that Captain Robert Treat should choose his lots" be- 
fore the rest made any division. This done, and eight 
acres being assigned to him as his home lot, whereas 
the rest had six, the remainder of the party cast lots 
for their several portions, " after due preparation and 
solemnization," the matter having been first " submitted 
to the Lord for His guidance."* 

The name of the town appears to have been at first 
Mil ford, f but was soon changed to Newark, in honor, 

* Newark Town Records, pp. 3, 4. Mr. on the south, was that of the elder Pier- 
Treat's home lot was on the south-east son. (See Town Book of Surveys.) 
corner of Broad and Market streets; op- f Scott's "Model of the Government," 
posite him, on the north-west corner, Whitehead p. 274. In Smith's History of 
was Deacon Ward's, afterwards pur- New Jersey, Second River is called Milr 
chased, and probably occupied by Rev. ford or Newark River, p. 159. 
Abraham Pierson, Jr., and adjoining him, 



THE NAME NEWARK '. FIRST CHURCH. 



21 



as is supposed, of its first minister, who preached for a 
time in Newark in England, before he came to this 
country. Its etymology is New- Work, not New-Ark, 
as some have supposed ; the former being a simple Eng- 
lish translation of the Latin words Novum opios, by 
which the founder of Newark Castle chose to distin- 
guish his then new enterprise.* 

The First Church in Newark appears to be the old- 
est fully organized Church of Christ of any denomina- 
tion within the State of New Jersey. There were 
small Swedish Churches on the banks of the Dela- 
ware, but these were on the west side of the river, 
within the boundaries of Delaware and Pennsylvania. 
A few Dutch congregations may have existed tempo- 
rarily in some parts of the State, but except the old 
First Dutch Church in Bergen, I cannot learn that 
any remnants of them now survive ; and that, though 
justly claiming the priority by a few years over all 
others, in the occupancy of this ground, had no minis- 
ter, and of course but an incomplete organization until 
after the lapse of several generations.f The settle- 

* See McCulloch's Gazetteer article, nished me by the Rev. Benjamin" C. Taylor, 
"Newark." It may be observed, in con- D. D., its present pastor. "The Reformed 
firmation of this etymology, that, in the Dutch Church at Bergen, New Jersey, was 
old manuscript volume called "Town constituted, as nearly as can be ascertained, 
Book," which is believed to be an original about the year A. D. 1663, perhaps a little 
record in the hand-writing of Robert before that date. The writer has seen a 
Treat and other first settlers, the last syl- certificate (still in the possession of a de- 
lable of the name is always written with scendant of the family,) of the moral and 
an o, Neworke or M ework. New- Ark and religious character, and ecclesiastical stand- 
Nova- Area must be regarded as an affect- ing of one of the early settlers of the town, 
ation of more modern times. It first ap- by the Burgomasters of the city of Wagen- 
pears, I think, about the time of Dr. Mac- ing, in Holland, dated November 27th, 
whorter. 1660; and is credibly informed that a re- 

t Of this first Christian light-bearer on cord exists in the Dutch language, in the 

the soil of New Jersey, I extract the fol- office of the Secretary of State of the State 

lowing account from notices kindly fur- of New York, in which the then Governor 



22 



EAELY OHUECHES. 



ments of Shrewsbury, Middletown and Piscataway, 
though nearly contemporary with that of Newark, had 
no churches till a much later period. 

The only organization for divine worship in the 
English language, which could bear a comparison with 
this in point of age, is the venerable sister Church of 
Elizabethtown. But this can furnish no historic proofs 
of its existence prior to the year 1682, when the Church 
in Newark had erected and completed its house of wor- 
ship, and been in full operation with its pastor and 
other officers — indeed most of the time with two pas- 

of the Province, reported to the States- of the pastorate in the city not admitting 

General of Holland, that the inhabitants of of Sabbath absences. So that but seldom 

Bergen, in the Colony of New Jersey, had on the Sabbath could the Word be preach- 

consented to be taxed for the building of ed to them. Nevertheless, the stated Sab- 

a house of worship. The document refer- bath services were maintained. The clerk 

red to is dated A. D. 1663. In 1664, the of the Church, as he was called, (or the 

registers now in possession of the pastor chorister,) read the prayers in the Liturgy 

commence. At that date there were nine °f the Church, and some appropriate ser 

male and eighteen female members in full mon selected for the occasion— of course 

communion, whose names are recorded, all in the Dutch language. This system 

It is believed to be almost certain that this of public service continued for at least 

is the fifth duly organized Reformed Dutch eighty-seven years, doubtless because of 

Church in the United States, and the first the difficulty of obtaining a pastor who 

Christian Church in the present State of could preach in the Dutch language, the 

New Jersey. number of such in the country being very 

"From 1664 until 1680, the public wor- small, 

ship of God was conducted in a log edifice. "In 1750, a call was presented to Mr. 

During the period of sixteen years, the William Jackson, then prosecuting pre- 

means of grace seem to have been greatly liminary studies under the direction of 

blessed, in which time one hundred and Rev. John Frelinghuysen, of Raritan, (now 

twenty-four were added to the communion Somerville,) and he was sent to Holland to 

of the Church. In 1680 the congregation complete his education, and receive ordi- 

erected their first church edifice, and the nation from the Classis of Amsterdam." 

people as before continued to have the Then with a true Dutch quietude, hardly 

preaching of the Gospel and administration surpassed in the best days of the renowned 

of the ordinances, principally by the clergy Wouter Van Twiller, did this worthy peo- 

of the Reformed Dutch Church at New pie patiently wait four pears and three 

York; whose names are recorded as present months for their pastor elect, who was 

when members were admitted to full com- greeted by them on his return, and duly 

munion. And I have seen a letter dated in installed in Sept. 1757, by a committee 

1682, from one of the early pastors of the appointed by the Classis, nmety-four years 

Church in New York, in which he states after their organization as a Christian 

the administration ol the ordinance of the Church. 
Supper was always on Monday, the duties 



CHURCH IN ELIZABETHTOWN. 



23 



tors, a senior and a junior — during a period of fifteen 
years* 

It is true the settlement of Elizabethtown was com- 
menced somewhat earlier than that of Newark, but it 
was commenced and carried on in circumstances much 
less advantageous for the speedy establishment of 
religious institutions. It must be remembered, that 
up to the month of August, 1665, only four families, if 
so many, some say only two,f had found a residence 
there, and the next accession to their numbers was 
that of Governor Philip Carteret, and his thirty Eng- 
lish gentlemen and servants — a company not likely to 
coalesce readily with the first four in the establishment 
of Puritan worship and ordinances. It is only nine 
months after this arrival that* we find thirty families, 
all New England Church-members from the same 
neighborhood, already settled, and met to devise plans 
for the carrying on both of civil and ecclesiastical af- 
fairs, in common with another party of the same char- 
acter, who were ready to come and join them for the 

* The earliest notice of ecclesiastical expressly charge, that no other Christian 
affairs in Elizabethtown, yet discovered, is person whatsoever was settled on any 
to be found in the East Jersey Proprietary part of the lands in question, than John 
Records, viz : that " Rev. Seth Fletcher, Ogden and Luke Watson, before Governor 
minister of the gospel at Elizabethtown," Carteret's arrival." (p. 66) This may be 
died in the month of August, 1682. His regarded as a partizan statement; but the 
marriage contract with Mrs. Mary Pier- defendants in their reply, without contra- 
son, of South Hampton, in the East Riding dieting it, content themselves with stating 
of Yorkshire, Long Island, is dated May what they have heard and believe took 
30, 1681. (Mr. Whitehead.) The next place " at or soon after the arrival of Gov- 
minister, Rev. John Harriman, could not ernor Carteret." It seems probable, there- 
have been settled earlier than 1684. fore, that they could point to no memorials 

t "Four families, if so many," is the proving a more extensive settlement prior 

expression used in the Bill in Chancery, to that period. Dr. Murray, in his Notes 

and the complainants in that bill add, that on Elizabethtown, p. 22, says " there were 

from "memorials" then recently discov- here but four houses, and those but log 

ered, " they have reason to believe, and do huts." 



24 CHUECH IN NEWAEK. 

same purposes, on the banks of the Passaic. Mean- 
while, however, and probably abont the same period 
with the emigration to Newark, came other companies 
and individuals in considerable numbers, from the 
same region, and took up their abode at Elizabeth- 
town. But these emigrants found the ground there 
pre-occupied ; and other influences than theirs having 
already acquired prevalence — influences with which 
they found themselves in conflict for many years after- 
wards — they must have been subject to serious embar- 
rassment in attempting to realize their best religious 
purposes. The probability that a regularly organized 
Church could have existed there as soon as in Newark 
is, therefore, exceedingly small. 

It was the good fortune of this community, to have 
become a Church almost as soon as it became a settle- 
ment. The settlers were perfectly homogeneous,* 
both in the beginning and for many years afterwards, 
and were banded together before they came, for the 
support of religious institutions. Indeed, the old 
Church in Branford, organized there twenty years ear- 
lier, was probably transported bodily, with all its cor- 
porate privileges and authorities. Its old pastor was 
conveyed hither at the expense of the town ; its dea- 
con continued his functions without any signs of re-ap- 
pointment ;f its records were transferred, and it im- 

* I find but two names among the first early as 1645. (See list published by Lam- 
company which indicate a different origin bert, p. 90.) 

from the rest. Robert Dalglesh, or Dou- f I have no positive proof that Dea- 

glass, according to Dr. Macwhorter was a con Ward was a deacon before he came 

Scotchman, and Hans, Hants, or Hauns hither, but inter it from the fact that he is 

Albers, though probably of Dutch extrac- so denominated immediately after, 
tion, was a settler in Milford, Conn., as 



ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH. 



25 



mediately commenced " Church work," and its pastor 
was invested with his office and salary on the new 
spot, without any ceremony of organization or installa- 
tion. It is true that several of its members were left 
behind, but they no longer claimed to be a Church ; 
and hence there was no Church in Branford after the 
removal, till a new one was organized there several 
years subsequent * The settlers who came hither from 
other towns, probably transferred their ecclesiastical 
relations to this pre-existing organization, and the 
Church of Branford being thus transplanted to a new 
locality, and having received an accession of new con- 
stituent elements, became, after the example of the 
Church in Hartford and several others in New England, 
the First Church of Newark, and thereupon started 
forth upon a new, and as it since has proved by far the 
largest portion of its career. This Church may, there- 
fore, be regarded as having had two beginnings, the 
first in Branford, in the year 1644, which is its proper 
organic origin ; and the second, when it became fairly 
removed to Newark, and its pastor resumed his func- 
tions here in the beginning of October, 166Y.f 

* Trumbull's Hist. Conn, vol 1, p. 277. debating to get wisdom" for their intended 

t It is scarcely to be doubted that reli- work. Meanwhile, " the town was cast 

gious worship was statedly maintained in into several private meetings, wherein 

Newark from the beginning of the settle- they that dwelt most together, gave their 

ment. The number and character of the accounts one to another of God's gracious 

settlers sufficiently indicate this. But the work upon them, and prayed together, and 

disposition of the early Puritans to carry conferred to mutual edification." See Ba- 

with them wherever they came, " the con's Hist. Disc, p. 19. That the Church 

Church and the godly minister," gives in Newark was able to complete its organ- 

us no sure evidence of the precise date of ization so soon after the commencement of 

the organization of their permanent con- the settlement, and so much earlier than 

gregations. In the old mother Colony of its sister Churches in this Province, must 

New Haven, the people waited fourteen doubtless be attributed to the peculiarly 

months, " praying, fasting, inquiring and favoring circumstances above detailed. 



26 



ABRAHAM PIERSON, SENIOR. 



The first pastor of this Church, as we have already 
intimated, was the Rev. Abraham Pierson. He was 
born in Yorkshire, England, graduated at the Univer- 
sity, of Cambridge, in the year 1632, and having been 
ordained, as is supposed episcopally,* and preached for 
some years in his native country, came to Boston 
in the year 1639, and joined the Church there. In 
the year 1640, a portion of the inhabitants of Lynn, 
near Boston, where he seems for a short time to have 
resided, "finding themselves straitened," as Governor 
Winthrop represents the case, determined to remove 
to Long Island, and calling Mr. Pierson to become 
their minister, they were organized into a Chnrch state 
before they left Lynn, and after an ineffectual attempt 
to settle on the west end of the island, removed to the 
east end, and became the first settlers of the town of 
Southampton. In the year 1644, being dissatisfied 
with the annexation of his little Colony to the juris- 
diction of Connnecticut,f he removed, as I have already 
said, after a ministry of about four years, with a por- 
tion of his Church to the town of Branford, J and there 

* See Dr. Macwhorter's Century Ser. who had been ordained by bishops before 
mon, p. 8, Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, coming to New England, though the va- 
p. 280. The following notice of Mr. Pier- lidity of their episcopal ordination was not 
son, is taken from a memoir of Hugh Pe- called in question, were subjected to an 
ters, by Joseph B. Felt, published in the additional form of setting apart usually 
New England Hist, and Geneal. Register, denominated ordination, on their taking 
April, 1851, p. 238. "November, 1640, he charge of a Congregational Church. (See 
(Peters) attends the formation of a Church Felt's Annals of Salem, p. 574.) 
at Lynn, composed of individuals who had + Cotton Mather says, " It was after- 
emigrated thence and settled on Long Is- wards found necessary for this Church to 
land. On the same occasion he takes part be divided. Upon which occasion Mr. 
in the ordination of Abraham Pierson, as Pierson referring his case to Council, his 
their guide in the spread of Gospel knowl- removal was directed into Branford over 
edge and influence." N. B. There is no the main." (Magnalia Book iii, ch. 8.) 
contradiction between this statement and f Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. 1, p. 
that given above, since those ministers 148. 



PIERSON AS MISSIONARY. 



27 



uniting with others from the town of Weathersfield, 
organized a new Church, of which he was the pastor 
in that place about twenty-three years. 

During his residence in Branford, he was distin- 
guished by his great zeal and success in the instruction 
and conversion of the native Indians. The Coniniis- 
sioners for the United Colonies of New England, a con- 
federation formed at New Haven in 1643, in co-opera- 
tion with a society in England incorporated by act of 
Parliament six years later " for carrying on and promot- 
ing the Gospel of Christ in New England," were in pur- 
suit of vigorous measures for this object. Among the 
missionaries whom they employed, the names of the 
gentleMayhew and the apostolic Eliot have acquired an 
almost world-wide renown. To these, that of Abraham 
Pierson eminently deserves to stand next. What they 
were in Massachusetts, such was he in the regions of 
Connecticut. As early as the year 1651, we find him 
spoken of as studying the language and " continuing 
with much seriousness therein," that he may the better 
be able to treat with the ignorant children of the 
forest " concerning the things of their peace." Shortly 
after, we hear of him, not only as preaching to the 
Indians, but preparing a catechism for them in their 
native language. It was first written in English ; and 
under date of September 17, 1656, we find the follow- 
ing notice of it in the proceedings of the Commission- 
ers for the Colonies : " A letter from Mr. Pierson of 
Branford, dated the 25th of August, was read; and 
some part of a catechism by him framed and pro- 
pounded to convince the Indians by the light of na- 



28 



INDIAN CATECHISM. 



ture and reason that there is only one God who hath 
made and governed all things, was considered. And 
the Commissioners advised that it be perfected and 
turned into the Narragansett or Pecpiot language, that 
it may he the better understood by the Indians in all 
parts of the country ; and for that purpose they spoke 
with and desired Thomas Stanton" — a young man 
whom they had trained at Cambridge to fit him for an 
interpreter in the Indian service — " to advise with Mr. 
Pierson about a fit season to meet and translate the 
same." This catechism was designed for the special 
benefit of the natives of the south-west portions of 
New England ; Mr. Eliot's, which was prepared a 
short time earlier, having been intended for those of 
Massachusetts, whose dialect was somewhat different. 
It was intended at first to send the manuscript to Eng- 
land for publication, but on conference with the society 
there, it was thought best that the work should be 
done in America. It was printed in the year 1660, by 
Mr. Green, to whom the Commissioners paid forty 
pounds for that service. Mr. Pierson had a regular 
salary for his labors in the Indian department from 
the Commissioners, in the same manner as Eliot and 
Mayhew and some others. At first it was £15, then 
.£20, afterwards £30 ; and it was not till the year but 
one before he left Branford that we find it " abated," for 
some cause not given, to £15. The proceedings and 
correspondence of the Commissioners contain abund- 
ant evidence of the high estimation which both they 
and the Society in England entertained of his labors. 
Twice, in the early part of his course, they made ap- 



riERSON's CHARACTER. 



29 



propriations of money to aid him in his preparations 
for the work ; and more than once we find special ap- 
propriations awarded to him for his extraordinary 
pains.* 

Mr. Pierson's character, both personal and ministe- 
rial appears to have been of a high order. He 
exerted no small influence, not only over his own flock, 
but among the people generally in the Colony of New 
Haven. The elder Winthrop, a personal acquaintance, 
and the best of authorities on such a point, pronounces 
him a " godly learned man." Cotton Mather says of 
him, " Wherever he came he shone."f We may perhaps, 
form some notion of his habits of study from the ex- 
tent of his library, which appears, from the inventory 
of his estate still in existence, to have contained four 
hundred and forty volumes, valued at one hundred 
pounds, or about one-eighth of his entire estate. J 

The salary assigned to this good old man, on his 
coming to Newark, was ample for the times, and marks 

* Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii, pp. 178, shine like a torch. If it be a fable, jet let 
186, 803, 313, 321, 326, 366, 878, 390, 392, the tongue of a minister be the moral of 
403,404,414,431,442,443,458. Trumbull that fable. Now such an illuminating 
says, Hist. Conn., vol. 1, p. 464. "The tongue was that of our Pierson." (Mag- 
Rev. Mr. Pierson, it seems, learned the nalia, B. iii. ch. 8. 

Indian language, and preached to the % The nett value of his estate, as ap- 
Connecticut Indians. A considerable sum pears from the inventory at his decease, 
was allowed him by the Commissioners of was £822. When he came to Newark it 
the United Colonies," &c. In the year was estimated at £644, the largest in the 
1653, when an agreement was to be made company except Robert Treat's, which was 
with the aboriginal inhabitants, "Mr. Pier- £660. The library, with the exception of 
son and his Indians were employed as in- a few volumes, given as tokens of love to 
terpreters, and Mr. Pierson and John his other sons, was bequeathed at Mr. Pier- 
Brocket witnesses to the mutual covenant, son's death, to his eldest son, Abraham 
(See Bacon's Hist. Disc. p. 347.) Pierson, Jr., and may have contained a 
t Mather's account of him commences portion at least of the volumes afterwards 
thus : " 'Tis reported by Pliny, but per- contributed by the latter to found the col- 
haps 'tis but a Plinyism, that there is a lege at New Haven. (See Trumbull, vol. 
fish called Lucerna, whose tongue doth 1. p. 473. 



30 



minister's salaet. 



the pious faithfulness and liberal spirit of the men who 
brought him here, and still adhered to him to the end 
of his life. Besides receiving his proportion of the lands 
as other planters, the sum of eighty pounds was given 
him the first year for the erection of his house,* together 
with the expenses of his transportation, and " the dig- 
ging and finishing of his well and thenceforth he 
was to receive eighty pounds annually, in two semi- 
annual instalments,-)* and to be free from all ordinary 
taxes during life, except the proportion charged on his 
estate " for ways and drainings in the meadows," and 
the never-to-be-forgotten Lords' half-penny. J 

It would be pleasant, could we summon to our view 
the persons and characters of the active men who then 
stood round their aged pastor, and sustained him with 
their prayers and sympathies, and received the bread 
of life here at his hands — the men who laid out these 

* A house which cost £80, must have try houses, though there were a few built 

been one of superior elegance as the times of brick or stone. But such houses could 

were. Samuel Groome, writing from Eliz- not have cost £80. Governor Winthrop's 

abethtown in 1688, says, " The houses at house in New Haven, in 1657, was sold for 

Amboy," viz., three which he had recently £100, and " it was one of the best in the 

built to begin a great city, which was then town," says Dr. Bacon, " distinguished as 

to be built there, " are thirty feet long and it was for ' fair and stately houses.' " 

sixteen feet wide ; ten feet between joint f Dr. Macwhorter says in his Century 

and joint: a double chimney made with Sermon, "The common salary which they 

timber and clay, as the manner of the allowed their minister, was about £30 a 

country is to build : will stand in about year, and this was frequently raised with 

£50 a house." (Smith's N. J., p. 175. great difficulty, and ill paid." This is 

Gawen Lawrie, writing to a friend in Lon- certainly a mistake, either of the writer 

don, says, " A carpenter with a man's own or the printer. The smallest salary ever 

servants, builds a house. They have all given to a settled pastor, was Mr. Prud- 

materials for nothing except nails. The dens, of £50. None of the rest fell short 

poorer sort set up a house of two or three of the sum above named, 

rooms after this manner. The walls are X It is added in the agreement, that he is 

of cloven timber, about eight or ten inches to have " a pound of butter for every milch 

broad, like planks, set one end to the cow in the town." This has been stated 

ground and the other nailed to the rais- by some as an additional perquisite. But 

ing, which they plaster within." This, it seems to have been only one of the 

we are told by another writer of the same " species" in which the sum of £80 was to 

period, was the style of most of the coun- be paid. (Newark Town Records, p. 8.) 



DEACON WAKD JASPER CRANE. 



31 



broad streets* and gave us these beautiful parks,f and 
whose spirit still lives in institutions to which they 
gave the first impulse. But of most of them, their 
names and the general spirit of their corporate acts is 
nearly all that we can rescue from oblivion. 

There was Lawrence Ward, the first deacon of the 
Church — an old man, probably — whose name appears 
among the original settlers of the town of New Haven, 
and who came to Newark from Branford with the 
Church of which he was an officer ; a plain, unpretend- 
ing man, as I imagine, possessing a moderate estate, and 
useful to the new Colony in various services requiring 
trust-worthiness and discretion. He died sometime in 
the year 1669. 

There was Jasper Crane — also an original settler of 
New Haven, and a member of the Church in Branford 
— whose name heads the list of subscribers to the 
Fundamental Agreement, and who figures largely in 

* John Barclay and others, (see Smith's that in the rear of them; together with 

New Jersey, p. 187,) writing to the Pro- that which lyeth in the middle street 

prietors in Scotland, in 1684, says of the towards the landing place, and that which 

towns in this region, " Their streets are lies against Aaron Blatchley's, and John 

laid out too large, and the sheep in the Ward's, and Robert Dalglesh's; which is 

towns are mostly maintained in them ; to be and remain as Town Commons." 

they are so large that they need no trouble (Newark Town Records, p 24.) 

to pave them." There may have been no N. B. The land before William Camp's, 

need once, but times change. is now a part of the South Park. 

t At a general town meeting, 25th and That towards the landing place in the 

26th Jan., 1669-70. " Item. It is by a middle street, is the Park or Military 

full consent of all agreed upon, that none Common. 

of the common lands lying within our That against Aaron Blatchley's and John 

town or highways, so far as our articles Ward's, is Washington Park, formerly 

will allow of, shall at any time be given Market Place, 

or disposed of to any man's propriety, That against Robert Dalglesh's, is the 

without the consent of every freeholder old " watering place" on the south side of 

or received inhabitant of the town ; as the Market street, near the Court House, 

land about the frog pond or training place j The old or first training place was the 

the land before William Camp's towards spot on which the first meeting-house 

the end in the front of those lots, as also stood, near the frog pond. 



32 



EOBEET TREAT. 



all the transactions of the town of Newark during the 
first fourteen years ; its magistrate, the president of its 
town court, and chosen regularly every year for the 
first five or six years, as first on its list of deputies to 
the General Assembly. He was an active, energetic, 
and perhaps restless man, who had aided already in 
the commencement of two or three new settlements, 
and, as early as the year 1651, had been only prevent- 
ed by the "injustice and violence of the Dutch" (so he 
thought it) from establishing yet another on the banks 
of the Delaware, whereby " the gospel," he said, 
" might have been published to the natives, and much 
good done, not only to the Colonies at present, but to 
posterity." * 

Next comes Robert Treat — the flower and pride of 
the whole company — who came to the Colony of New 
Haven when a young man, and was early advanced to 
posts of influence and trust. To his wise energy New- 
ark owes much of its early order and good manage- 
ment. Having served the town in various capacities — 
as its Clerk, and, with Jasper Crane, as one of its magis- 
trates and deputies to the Assembly — he left several of 
his children here as a most acceptable donation to the 
new settlement^ and returned in the year 1672 to Con- 

* Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 197. The leaderg t "The children of Robert Treat, who 

in the enterprise were Jasper Crane and settled in Newark, were John, who died 

William Tuttle. This is probably the set- August 1, 1714, aged 65 ; his daughter 

tlement near Cape May, of which Dr. Sarah married to Jonathan Crane, Esq., 

Macwhorter speaks. (Century Sermon, a son of Jasper Crane, Jr. ; and his 

p. 8.) The people of New Haven Colony daughter Mary, the wife of Deacon Aza- 

had purchased land of the Indians on both riah Crane. On the home-lot of Gover- 

sides of Delaware bay and river, and had nor Treat, which was occupied by the 

agents and a trading house there; but descendants of his daughter until the 

I have seen no evidence that they sue- commencement of the present century, 

ceeded in actually commencing a settle- now stands the house of worship of the 

ment. See Hazard's State Papers, vol. ii. First Presbyterian Church," — S.H. Congar. 



SAMUEL SWAINE. 



33 



necticut. There at once lie was advanced to the magis- 
tracy of the Province. Becoming a Major of militia, he 
distinguished himself in various military operations 
against the Dutch and Indians ; and, at the battle of 
"Bloody Brook," when the "Flower of Essex" fell, 
turned the tide of success at a desperate moment, and 
saved the colonists from being overrun and destroyed 
by a savage foe. He was the Governor of Connecti- 
cut for many years, and his name is one of the bright- 
est on her early rolls.* 

Samuel Swainef deserves notice as having been con- 



* See Trumbull's Hist, Conn., vol. 1, p. 
341, &c, Everet's Orations, (" Battle of 
Bloody Brook.") " It is the tradition," 
says Trumbull, "that Major (afterwards 
Governor) Treat received a ball through 
the brim of his hat, and that he was the 
last man who left the Fort in the dusk of 
the evening, commanding the rear of the 
army." " He that commanded our forces 
then and now vs," say the Legislature of 
the Colony, " made no less than seven- 
teen fair shots at the enemy, and was 
thereby as oft a fair mark for them." 

Gov. Treat was in the Chair when, Sir 
Edmond Andros attempting to seize the 
charter of the Colony, the people extin- 
guished the lights in the Assembly room, 
and Capt. Wadsworth secretly conveyed 
the precious instrument of liberty to a 
place of security in a hollow tree, since 
called from that circumstance the " Char- 
ter Oak." He was at a very advanced age 
when he retired from public life. Trum- 
bull gays of him, (vol. 1, p. 432,) "He had 
been three years a magistrate, and thirty- 
two years Governor or Deputy-Governor 
of the Colony. He was elected magis- 
trate, May, 1673, Deputy- Governor, 1676, 
and Governor, 1683. To this office he 
was annually elected fifteen years until 
1698. He was then chosen Deputy-Gov- 
ernor until the year 1708. He died about 
two years after, July 12, 1710, in the 85th 
year of his age. Few men have sustained 



a fairer character or rendered the public 
more important services. He was an ex- 
cellent military officer ; a man of singular 
courage and resolution, tempeied with 
caution and prudence. His administra- 
tion of Government was with wisdom, 
firmness and integrity. He was esteemed 
courageous, wise and pious. He was ex- 
ceedingly beloved and venerated by the 
people in general, and especially by his 
neighbors at Milford where he resided." 
He married Jane, daughter of Edmund 
Tapp, one of the "seven pillars" on 
which the Church at Milford laid its 
foundation work. (See Lambert's Hist. 
Col. New Haven, pp. 100, 137.) 

t Not Swarne, as all the histories have 
it. "Samuel Swaine's daughter Elizabeth 
was the wife of Josiah Ward, and subse- 
quently of David Ogden, who left four 
sons, David, John$ Josiah and Swaine. 
Col. Josiah (who went over to Episcopacy) 
was the ancestor of the late David B. Og- 
den, Esq. The lamented Mrs. -Caldwell, 
of Elizabethtown, was a descendant of 
David Ogden. Joanna, another daugh- 
ter of Lieut. Swaine, married Jasper Crane, 
Jr., and hence, though the names ©f Treat 
and Swaine may not be found in our City 
Directory, their representatives are very 
numerous." — S. H. Congar. 

It is not improbable that Col. Josiah 
owed his name to the affiection of his mo- 



34 



THE OLD COEN MILL. 



stantly chosen for " the third man" among the deputies 
to the General Assembly to supply the place of either 
of the others who might fail, and as such having repre- 
sented the town instead of Jasper Crane in the first 
General Assembly ever held in the Province, He was 
a mill-wright by trade,* and a Lieutenant by office, and 



ther for the memory of her deceased hus- 
band. 

There is a tradition that Elizabeth 
Swaine was the first to land on the shore 
of Newark, having been merrily handed 
up the bank by her gallant lover, in his 
ambition to secure for her that mark of 
priority. She was then, says the same 
tradition, nineteen years of age, which 
corresponds, as Mr. Congar informs me, 
to the record of her baptism. 

* The old corn mill situated on " Mill 
Brook," near the present Stone Bridge, 
and erected by Lieut. Swaine's skill, de- 
serves a passing notice as among the 
primitive public institutions of "our town 
upon Passaic river." It was the next 
considerable undertaking after the meet- 
ing house, and liberal offers were at first 
made to any who would volunteer in the 
work, " for the supply of the town with 
good grinding." But "none appearing 
to accept the town's motion and encour- 
agement," the next step was " to set upon 
it in a general way ; and moving to Lieut. 
Swaine about the matter, he made some 
propositions to the town," and they final- 
ly came to an agreement to give him for 
his services, "twenty shillings by the week 
and three pounds over for his skill," unless, 
as the agreement ran, " he shall see cause 
to abate it, which, if he should see cause 
to do, the town will take it thankfully." 
On these conditions did the worthy func- 
tionary engage " to improve his time and 
skill to the best advantage," "give his 
best advice about the building of the 
dam and leveling the ground as the town 
shall need him," and, with the aid of Mr. 
Robert Treat, Henry Lyon, John Brown 
and Stephen Davis, made choice of as the 
town's committee "to appoint and oversee 
the work, and that, as near as they can, in 



an equal and proportionate way, and to 
keep a clear and distinct account of each 
man's work and layings out about the 
work together with that of Thomas 
Pierson and George Day, appointed " to 
call forth the men to labor" at the proper 
times, "as the committee shall agree 
upon," carry the whole work "on to an 
end " as soon as conveniently he can. 
Forth goes, moreover, a trusty commis- 
sion at the town's command " upon the 
discovery, to see if they can find any suita- 
ble stones for mill-stones," and, the whole 
body politic being thus fairly enlisted, a 
speedy completion of the work was no 
doubt confidently anticipated. But pri- 
vate enterprise was after all found more 
reliable; and at the end of one year, the 
work still lingering, a bargain was made 
with Robert Treat and Sergeant Richard 
Harrison to build the mill and all its ap- 
purtenances, keep it in repair, furnish the 
same with a good miller, and for a fixed 
rate of tolls ''grind all the town's grists 
into good meal." For their encourage- 
ment the exclusive right to all mill privi- 
leges on that brook were guarantied, 
" with all the town's grists from 
time to time, all stones capable of mill- 
stones in the town's utmost limits and 
bounds," the timber which before had 
been prepared, all the lands formerly 
granted and " entailed to the mill" in all 
respects as their own lands, thirty pounds 
in current articles, and " two days work of 
every man and woman that holds an al- 
lotment in the town." With this encour- 
agement the work went on apace; the 
thirty pounds were gathered by a rate 
" in like manner as the rate for Mr. Abra- 
ham Pierson," and Saturday and Monday 
of each week being agreed upon as 
"grinding days," the sturdy planters" 1 



DEACONS TOMPKINS AND LAWRENCE. 



35 



was raised to the captaincy of the Newark forces in 
16 7 3, shortly after Captain Treat returned to Connect- 
icut. 

Michael Tompkins* and Eichard Lawrence,f who 



boys, each mounted on horseback with 
sacks of grain en croupe, may at length 
be imagined wending their cheerful way 
from either extremity of the settlement 
to where the huge timbers of the rude 
edifice groaned to the rushing waters and 
whirling mill-stones ; and the miller, full 
of bustle and importance, was seeking to 
fulfill his promise " to attend to his grind- 
ing" and " do as for himself to secure 
every man's grist" from harm or loss "till 
it be closed under lock and key," when 
his responsibility was to be ended. Thir- 
teen years later, Robert Treat having re- 
turned to Connecticut, and Sergeant Har- 
rison perhaps growing old, the right to 
the mill was conveyed, with the town's 
consent, to the three younger Harrisons — 
Samuel, Joseph and George — who as- 
sumed all the attendant obligations and 
responsibilities as mentioned in the "cov- 
enant" made between the town and their 
father. Further than this, concerning the 
fate of the old corn mill, this deponent saith 
not. (Town's Records, pp. 13, 14, 15, 29, 
37, 45.) 

* The following notices of the Tomp- 
kins family were gathered by Mr. S. H. 
Congar from the Milford Church records : 
"Michael and Mary Tomkins were re- 
ceived as church members 12th Decem- 
ber, 1643 ; Seth, son of Michael Tomkins, 
was baptized in 1649 ; Micah, " son of 
brother Tomkins," was baptized at New 
Haven in 1660. Mr. C. adds : " I have no 
doubt that Michael Tomkins was the 
man who hid the Judges in Milford. 
Tomkins's name does not appear in Mil- 
ford books after the settlement of New- 
ark, that I can find." The story of the 
hiding of the regicide Judges is pleasant- 
ly told by President Stiles in his " His- 
tory of the Three Judges of King Charles 
I, viz : Major Generals Gofle and Whal- 



ley and Col. Dixwell," pp. 88, 89. " From 
their lodgment in the woods the Judges 
removed and took up an ayslum in the 
house of Mr. Tomkins in the centre of 
Milford, thirty or forty rods from the 
meeting house. 1 have frequently been 
in this house of Tomkins's. It was 
standing since 1750, and perhaps to 1770. 
In this house the two Judges resided in 
the most absolute concealment, not so 
much as walking out into the orchard for 
two years." Mr. Treat, he adds, was in 
the secret, and a few others. The house 
is thus described : " It was a building, say 
twenty feet square, and two stories ; the 
lower room built with stone wall and con- 
sidered as a store ; the room over it with 
timber and wood, and used by Tomkins's 
family as a work or spinning-room." 
" The family," he adds, "used to spin in 
the room above, ignorant of the Judges 
being below. Judge Buckingham tells 
me this story, the only anecdote or notice 
I could ever learn from a Milford man 
now living. While they sojourned at 
Milford, there came over from England 
a ludicrous cavalier ballad, satirizing 
Charles's Judges, and Goffe and Whalley 
among the rest. A spinstress at Milford 
had learned to sing it, and used some- 
times to sing it in the chamber over the 
Judges ; and the Judges used to get 
Tomkins to set the girls to singing the 
song for their diversion, being humored 
and pleased with it, though at their own 
expense, as they were the subjects of the 
ridicule. The girls knew nothing of the 
matter, being ignorant of the innocent 
device, and little thought that they were 
serenading angels." Deacon Tompkins is 
first mentioned as Deacon in the Town 
Records, Dec. 29, 1670. (Rec, p. 31.) 

f Deacon Lawrence first appears by that 
title in the Records, Jan. 2, 1670-1. (Rec, 



36 FIRST SETTLERS. 

succeeded Lawrence Ward in the office of deacon, and 
were probably elected about the time of his decease, 
appear to have been men of true worth and considera- 
ble influence in the community. 

Besides these, there were Matthew Camfield* and 
Obadiah Bruen, Robert Kitchell, formerly one of the 
" seven pillars" of the Church in Guilford, and his son 
Samuel, married to Grace, daughter of Abraham 
Pierson, senior, f John Curtis, and Jeremiah Peck, and 
Thomas Morris, and Thomas Luddington. There were 
other Piersons, Cranes, TompkinsesJ and Wards.§ 
There were Baldwins,) and Burwells,^[ and Blatch- 



p. 32.) He was one of the Branford party, 
as was Tompkins of the Milford. Proba- 
bly both were appointed at the same 
time. 

* Matthew Camfield is said to have 
come from Norwalk. He had four sons, 
Samuel, Ebenezer, Matthew and Jonathan. 
Jonathan died Nov. 26, 1688, and left his 
property to his two brothers. Samuel 
Camfield settled in Norwalk, and received 
his portion of his father's estate there. The 
will says : "He shall have nothing here." 

t She was, it is said, his second wife. 
His first wife was Elizabeth Wakeman, 
married in 1651. 

% Seth Tompkins, son of Michael, does 
not appear among the first subscribers, 
but soon after. He must have been only 
17 years of age when the first party arrived. 
His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
Kitchel. The name of Jonathan Tomp- 
kins appears among the original subscri 
bers. 

§ Two John Wards, whose names ap- 
pear among the original subscribers, be- 
longing to the Milford party, were usually 
distinguished as John Ward, senior, or 
Sergeant Ward, and John Ward Turner 
or Dishturner. John Ward Turner was 
a nephew of Deacon Lawrence Ward and 



a cousin of John Catlin. There were two 
of the same name and profession subse- 
quently, probably the latter a son of the 
former. (Town Book of Surveys, &c, pp» 
1, 13, 54.) 

|| Two Baldwins were among the origi- 
nal subscribers— John, senior, and John, 
junior. Benjamin Baldwin was also among 
the first settlers. John Baldwin, senior? 
was among those who had special grants 
made them by the town " for staying on 
the place so much the first summer." 
In 1673, he with three others had deter- 
mined to remove to what was called 
"Barbadoes Neck," then recently pur- 
chased of the Dutch, but they were pre- 
vented from remaining there by a defect in 
the title. John Baldwin, junior, became 
prominent in the affairs of the town 
after a few years, and was chosen to the 
highest offices. They were both men of 
moderate estate. Benjamin Baldwin was 
a weaver. (Town Records.) 

IT Only one Burwell appears among the 
original subscribers, viz : Ephraim. But 
Zechariah was also among the first set- 
tlers. Zechariah and Elizabeth Burwell 
had numerous children, who were con- 
nected by marriage with several promin- 
ent Newark families. 



FIRST SETTLERS. 



37 



leys, and Harrisons, and Johnsons* and Lyons.f 
There were Penningtons J — Ephraim and his two young 
sons, Ephraim and Judah. There were Biggses — 
Sergeant Edward, and his two sons, Edward and Jo- 
seph. There were Dods,§ and Browns, J more than 
one. There was a Ball and a Bond, a Camp and a 
Catlin, a Davis and a Day, a Freeman and a Hunting- 
ton, a Lyman and a Linle, a Bose and a Plum. There 
was Bobert Denison with a his mark," and John Brooks 
with " his mark." There was Hugh Roberts, and Hans 
Albers, and Robert Dalglesh, and Jonathan Sargeant,^" 
and Martin and Daniel Tichenor, and Joseph Walters, 
and Nathaniel Wheeler, and John Rogers — in all, 
sixty-three at the beginning, and more afterwards, 

* There were two Johnsons among the surveyed to them in the right of their 

the original subscribers— John and Thom- father, after his decease, as appears by 

as; the former of the Branford and the the Town Book of Surveys, "half to 

latter of the Milford party. Thomas Ephraim and half to Judah." 

Johnson became one of the most promin- § The Dods were all minors when they 

ent men in the settlement. He was one came to Newark, their father, Daniel D., 

of the committee of eleven chosen at the having died in Branford in 1664-5. But 

preliminary town meeting, and during his the eldest, Daniel, became of age soon af- 

life occupied successively almost every ter, and his name appears in the " sure 

gradation of office. His residence was list" by which the lands were divided, 

on the north-east corner of Broad and though not among the first signers of the 

Walnut streets, the site now occupied by fundamental agreements. His sister 

Grace Church. Mary was the wife of Aaron Blatchly , 

f Henry Lyon removed after a few married before they came to Newark, 

years to Elizabethtown, but seems to have (See Dod's East Haven Register, Appen- 

been unwilling to lose his Church privi- dix, p. 13.) 

leges here ; for under date of July 24, 1680, || John Brown, senior and junior, were 
we find the following : " It is voted that among the subscribers of the fundamen- 
Henry Lyon hath a right to, and shall tal agreement, and both of the Milford 
have a seat in the meeting house, paying party. When Mr. Treat returned to Con- 
proportionably with his neighbors." — necticut, John Brown, Jr., was chosen to 
(Town Records, p. 80.) He was the first succeed him in the office of Town Clerk. 
Town Treasurer of Newark. There was If Jonathan Sargeant was the ancestor 
also a Samuel Lyon, and a Thomas, who of the Rev. John Sargeant, father and son, 
made "his mark" among the Branford men. missionaries to the Indians, and of the 
X Ephraim Pennington was a young Hon. John Sargeant, late of Philadelphia, 
man, married at Milford, Oct. 25, 1667, to In 1669 he had lands assigned him on con- 
Mary Brocket. Ephraim and Judah must dition that he would " abide in the town 
have been born in Newark. Lands were and follow his trade." Town Rec, p. 27. 



38 



CHAKACTER OF THE SETTLERS. 



whose virtues served their generation, and whose 
faults, if any they had, have long since passed into ob- 
livion.* 

But though there is little left now by which to indi- 
vidualize these venerable men, the records of their 
corporate acts and the works they accomplished, point 
them out as men of no ordinary excellence. Strict 
Puritans we have already called them ; and they seem 
to have possessed all the virtues of the Puritan, with 
scarcely one of the faults alleged against that ancient 
race.f 

It would be difficult to find a more perfectly well- 
regulated community anywhere, than that which they 
established here on the banks of the Passaic. All 
their affairs were conducted on the most perfect sys- 
tem. The public burdens were carefully distributed 
among the settlers, in proportion to their estates ; and 
where services were to be performed in common, every 
man under their several leaders had his place fixed and 
assigned him, that there might be no neglect, delay or 
interference. Whether the work were to clear the 
highways of the obtruding vegetation, J make or re- 

* Besides the names above mentioned, f As to the puritan rigidity of the peo- 

the " sure list" of every man's estate pie, take the following testimony of a 

made in 1667, contains those of John Scotchman, lately came among them in 

Bostwick, Thomas Staples and Alexander 1684: "Most part of the first settlers 

Munrow. Another list, made the same came out of New England, very kind and 

year, contains those of Benjamin Fenn, loving, people ; kinder than in Scotland or 

Mr. Leete, John Gregory, Eleazer Rogers England." (See Peter Watson's letter, 

and John Rockwell. Mr. being then a Whitehead, p. 302.) 
title of distinction, is applied in these 

lists to eleven persons, viz : Messrs. Ab. % " Stubbing the highways in the 

Pierson, senior and junior, Robert and town," is the expression used in the Rec- 

Samuel Kitchel, Jeremiah Peck, ords. In this work all men from 16 to 60 

Morris, Jasper Crane, Robert Treat, years of age were required to labor as they 

— Leete, Matthew Camfield and Obadiah were called out. Records, p. 51. 
Bruen. Others had military titles. 



DISTRIBUTION OF BURDENS. 



39 



pair the fences, ditch the meadows,* burn the woods, f 
use the common lands for the pasturing of cattle, pay 
the public charges, or carry Mr. Pierson's wood to his 
door J — all was regulated with the precision of a mili- 
tary manoeuvre, and each man knew his part and his 
time. Only one service seems to have been performed 
with great reluctance, and that was the attendance 
upon town meetings ; and here, in spite of fines over 
and over imposed on the delinquents, the voters seem 
to have continued long to disregard their high privi- 
leges and franchises.§ 



* A curious order about ditching the 
meadows is recorded at length in the 
Town Records, pp. 17, 18, under date of 
June 10, 1669. Every man is required 
to work one day for each £200 of 
estate. Two rods in length is to be taken 
for a day's work. The planters are di- 
vided into two companies, of which Ser- 
geant Riggs is to command the one, and 
Sergeant Harrison the other, and every 
man must set up stakes marked with the 
two first letters of his name at each end 
of his work, so that the Surveyor may 
know whether he has done his part, and 
how he has done it. The men are to 
come out and work in succession as they 
are called by their leaders, notice having 
been given the day previous. 

+ The burning of tbe woods seems to 
have been a very serious operation. Every 
year a committee was appointed and 
clothed with power to say when and only 
when the work should be undertaken. 
On the appointed day, at beat of drum, 
every planter was required, on penalty of 
a fine, to present himself at " tbe com- 
mon place of meeting, and then and there 
come to an agreement with his neighbors 
as to the best manner of proceeding for 
the best good of the town," and neither 
in woods nor meadows nor about the 
fences was any fire to be set until at 
early morning hour the beating of the 
drum from Thomas Johnson's up to Ser- 



geant Ward's should give the required 
notice to begin. In this work, likewise, 
every man from 1G years to 60 was to work 
his dav. (Town Eecords, pp. 13, 46, 74, 
188.) 

% The following extracts from the Town 
Records shows the habits of the people in 
this particular : 

" Nov. 24, 1679— It is agreed that two 
men in each quarter shall be appointed to 
look after the carrying in Mr. Pierson's 
wood this year,and take care that it is done 
seasonably, and also to see that every one 
as is yet behind for the last year do first car- 
ry their load of wood ; and for their pains 
and care shall be exempted from their 
load of wood. Mr. Johnson and George 
Day for their quarter, and Mr. Kitehel 
and David Ogden for their quarter, Deacon 
Lawrence and John Ward Turner for 
their quarter, and John Walters and 
Thomas Pierson, junior, for their quarter 
are chosen ; every quarter to go out when 
the men see cause to call." Rec., p. 76. 

§ It is a curious fact that the privilege 
of voting in public affairs, exclusive as it 
was, should have been so little valued. 
We do not hear of any fines imposed by 
these same rigid Puritans for neglect to 
attend public worship; hut absence from 
town meetings was treated as a very se- 
rious offence. After various attempts to 
remedy the evil, without success, an or- 
der was adopted in the year 1676, to this 



40 



LOVING AGKEEMENT. 



Differences there were from time to time between 
man and man, but they were generally soon set- 
tled by means of mutual agreements, or at worst by a 
Committee specially appointed for that purpose. Of 
this a beautiful example is to be seen in the adjustment 
of the boundary between the towns of Newark and Eliz- 
abethtown. It stands on record, that Jasper Crane, 
Robert Treat, Matthew Camfield, Samuel Swaine and 
Thomas Johnson, commissioned with full powers from 
the town of Newark, met with John Ogden, Luke 
Watson, Robert Bond and Jeffrey Jones, bearing a 
similar commission from the sister settlement, on a lit- 
tle round hill named thenceforth Divident Hill.* 
There, it is said on the authority of an old man who 
testified on oath that he received the account from one 
of the parties, Robert Treat first led them in prayer 
" that there might be good agreement between them f 
and when their task was ended, " John Ogden prayed 
among the people, and gave thanks for their loving 
agreeinent."f Nor is it strange that the devout and 

effect: Town meetings may be called by offences had to be passed more than once, 
the townsmen, and 24 hours shall be ac- so prevailing was the disposition to be de- 
counted legal warning. "The drum is to linquent. (Town Records, pp. 9, 36, 50, 
be beaten twice in fair weather ; the first 59, 98, 114.) 

drum is to be beaten as far as Sergeant * Not "Dividend," as it has been called 

Harrison's gate, and the second at the subsequently. The word seems to have 

meeting house about half an hour after, at been coined from the Latin dividend, and 

which time every planter shall be at the means dividing. The line there drawn 

place of meeting to answer to his name." was called "the divident line," and the 

The fines imposed weie six-pence for tar- hill, for the same reason, the "Divident 

diness, fifteen shillings for a half day's Hill." Dividend would carry a different 

absence, half a crown for a whole day, meaning, and is not used in the Record, 

and two shillings for going away before See Newark Town Records, p. 8. 
the meeting was dismissed. Absence for f Answer to Bill in Chancery, p. 47 — 

any part of the day incurred the loss of a If any spot in this vicinity deserves a 

man's vote. This order was renewed monument it is the "little round hill called 

with great unanimity in 16S0, 1683 and Divident Hill," where the pious fathers 

and 1690. But acts of indemnity for past of Newark and Elizabethtown made and 



PRESERVATION OF ORDER. 



chivalrous magistrate should have thought the work 
done "in so loving and solemn a manner" that the 
boundary then and there set ought never to be re- 
moved ; although, alas for human frailty, we find the 
same boundary made the subject of less loving alterca- 
tion many years afterwards. 

For the preservation of internal order, the measures 
which these worthy men employed, seem to have been 
strict, yet not severe. A single man, of approved 
character, was appointed to keep an ordinary, or public 
house " for the entertainment of travelers and stran- 
gers,"* and he alone was allowed to retail ardent 



solemnized "their loving agreement." 
The pagans of classic days would have 
been sure to erect there a splendid temple 
of Concord. The following beautiful lines 
by Mrs. E. C. Kinney, wife of Hon. Wm. 
B. Kinney, American Charge d'Affaires at 
Turin, are a worthy tribute : 

Pause here, Muse ! that Fancy's eye 

May trace the footprints still 
Of men that, centuries gone by, 

With prayer ordained this hill : 
As lifts the misty veil of years, 

Such visions here arise 
As when the glorious Past appears 

Before enchanted eyes. 

I see from midst the faithful few 

Whose deeds yet live sublime — 
Whose guileless spirits, brave, as true, 

Are models 'for all time,' 
A group upon this height convened — 

In solemn prayer they stand — 
Men, on whose sturdy wisdom leaned 

The settlers of our land. 

In mutual love the line they trace 

That will their homes divide, 
And ever mark the chosen place 

That prayer hath sanctified : 
And here it stands— a temple old, 

Which crumbling Time still braves ; 
Though ages have their cycles rolled 

Above those patriots' graves. 

As Christ transfigured on the height 
The three beheld with awe, 

And near his radiant form, in white, 
The ancient prophets saw; 



So, on this summit I behold 

With beatific sight, 
Once more our praying sires of old, 

As spirits clothed in light. 

A halo crowns the sacred hill, 

And thence glad voices raise 
A song that doth the concave fill — 

Their prayers are turned to praise ! 
Art may not for these saints of old 

The marble urn invent ; 
Yet here the Future shall behold 

Their Heaven-built monument. 

* The first person designated to this 
office was Henry Lyon, the town Treas- 
urer, who, at the town meeting in Jan'y, 
1668-9, is recorded as having been chosen, 
and directed " to prepare for it as soon as 
he can." Two years later, "the town 
chose Thomas Johnson" for the keeper of 
the ordinary, " and prohibited all others 
from selling any strong liquors by retail 
under a gallon, unless in case of necessity, 
and that by license from tlte town magis- 
trate." Again, two years after this, it is 
on record, that "Mr. Crane having liquors 
for six shillings a gallon, and Is. 6d. a 
quart, they paying wheat for it, hath lib- 
erty to sell liquors in the town till the 
country order alter it." Such was the old 
"license law" and its operation in the 
town of Newark in Puritan times. A still 
stricter law was enacted by the Asembly 
in 1668, but its authority had probably ex- 
pired. Newark Town Records. 



42 



PRESERVATION OF ORDER. 



spirits except by a special license. To secure the 
settlement against the annoyance of evil-minded per- 
sons, who might be disposed to intrude upon it, it was 
determined, among the original agreements on the 
basis of which the lands were taken up, that whoever 
should desire to become a settler must, if a stranger, 
bring a certificate of good character "from the chief 
of the place" whence he came, and then be received 
into the community by a vote of the town. Nor was 
any land allowed to be alienated, except in case of in- 
heritance, without the town's consent. Hence we find 
in their early proceedings, repeated notices of permis- 
sion given to individuals to purchase real estate of such 
and such persons. And should lands be sold contrary 
to this regulation the sale was void, and the land, not 
confiscated to the town's use, but returned into their 
hands, " they paying the owner or possessor of it valua- 
able consideration as indifferent men shall appraise it."* 
"To prevent the disorderly meeting of young persons at 
unseasonable times," a law was made that no master of a 
family should allow such meetings on his premises in the 

* Newark Town Records, pp. 3, 5, &c. or otherwise, sell, give nor any way alien- 

This may serve to account for an order ate or pass on lease, or let any house or 

very .stringent in its aspect, which was house lot, or any part or parcel of them, 

passed by the town in the year 1631, when or any land of what kind or quality soever 

the settlement began to be troubled with to any such person; nor shall any planter 

undesirable visitors. It is as follows: or inheriter permit any such person or 

" To prevent sundry inconveniences which persons so coming and resorting, to stay 

may grow to this town of Newark, by the or abide above one month, without license 

inconsiderate receiving and entertaining from those the town shall appoint for that 

of strangers among us, it is voted that purpose, under the penalty of five pounds 

henceforward no planter belonging to us, for every such defect, besides all damages 

or within our bounds or limits, receive or that may grow by such entertainment." 

entertain any man or woman, of what age Town Records, p. 84. The whole race de- 

or quality soever, coming or resorting to nominated loafers, it seems, used to find 

us, to settle upon their land; nor shall little quarter in "our town upon Passaic 

any person that hath been received as a river," in the days of the Puritans, 
planter among us by right of inheritance 



SCHOOL — QUIT RENTS. 



43 



night after nine o'clock, " extraordinary occasions ex- 
cepted, 11 nor under any circumstances should he permit 
such persons " to spend their time, money or provis- 
ions inordinately, in drinking, gaming and such like," 
nor in " any carriage, conference or council which tends 
to corrupt one another." The penalty for transgress- 
ing this law was to be " such fines as the authorities 
shall see fit." 

The first school law enacted in the Province, was in 
the year 1693. But long before this, as early as 1676, 
" the schoolmaster was abroad" here, and the town's 
men authorized by vote to perfect the bargain with 
him on condition that he "do his faithful, honest and 
true endeavor," to teach the children or servants read- 
ing, writing and arithmetic.* 

In the management of their relations with the Pro- 
prietors, the people of this town appear to have acted 
with great discretion and fidelity. When the time ap- 
proached for the first payment of the annual quit-rents, 
some of the settlements were in great commotion — the 
claims of the Proprietors were denied, and the arrival 
of the 25th of March, 1670, " caused the suppressed 
passions of those mimical to the existing government, 
to break forth at once in decided and violent opposi- 
tion."f But no such scenes took place on the banks 
of the Passaic. The Governor fearing, perhaps, there 
might be some reluctance, wrote to the people here 

* Newark Town Records, p. 64. In a freeholder on condition of setting his 

1671 we find a notice that "Richard ," name to our agreements, and he hath 

probably either Richard Fletcher or Rich- promised to set about learning to read, 

ard Hore, who seems to have had the mis- which was an encouragement to them 

fortune afterwards, of becoming the first herein." p. 37. 
pauper in the settlement, " is admitted as t Whitehead, p. 54. 



44 



CIVIL AND DIVINE EIGHTS. 



more than a month before the payment became due. 
Their prompt reply, spiced it may be with a little just 
indignation at being even suspected, and showing suf- 
ficient resolution to defend their own rights from arbi- 
trary encroachments, while they freely yielded all that 
belonged to others, deserves special notice as a speci- 
men of character. It is on record* that " the Gover- 
nor's writing was read, and after some debate upon it, 
they agreed as follows : i After all due salutations, pre- 
sented by the constable, to our worshipful Governor, 
we, the inhabitants and freeholders of the town of 
Newark, do, by him, make returns to the said Gover- 
nor's writing, as followeth, viz.: That they do hold 
and possess their lands and rights in the said town, 
both by a civil and a divine right, as by their legal 
purchase and articles doth and may show.' "f That is 
to say, they had acquired a divine right by a fair pur- 
chase from the natives, to whom in their esteem, God 

* Newark Town Records, p. 27. New World." But, however that may 

t It has been inferred, from the fact have been, the Newark Puritans were de- 

that the people made so much of their Indi- termined to maintain no controversy of 

an titles, that they were disposed to disown doubtful issue with either the lawyers or 

those given by the Proprietors, and repu- their own private consciences ; and with 

diate their own corresponding obligations, a magnanimity scarce paralleled except 

Nothing could be further from the truth, among their brethren of the same noble 

as far as respscts the people of Newark, race, both purchased of the Indians, pay- 

Their Indian titles they regarded as the ing them to their full satisfaction, and 

basis of their moral rights, and kept them took legal titles from the Proprietary 

carefully to be filed in at the court of claimants, discharging promptly and 

Heaven. But their titles from the Pro- cheerfully their whole demand for every 

prietors, both before and after they took inch of land of which they claimed to 

patents, were preserved by them as the be owners. This is what I understand 

basis of their civil rights, in virtue of by the words " you assuring them to us," 

which they claimed of the Proprietary and the demand repeatedly made by them 

Government protection and defence to be protected in the peaceable enjoyment 

against the pretensions of all other civil- of " our right and title to the land we 

ized claimants. " The Puritans and the bought of the heathen." Town Records, 

lawyers," says Mr. Bancroft, "differed pp. 27, 10 J. 
widely on the subject of real estate in the 



QUIT-RENTS PAID PROMPTLY. 



45 



had given a just claim to this country, and a civil right 
by an agreement with the Lords Proprietors, by whom 
they claimed to be defended in the peaceable posses- 
sion of what they had so acquired. " And as for the 
payment of the half-penny per acre for all our allotted 
lands," they add, " according to our articles, and inter- 
pretations of them, you assuring them [the lands] to 
us, we are ready, when the time comes, to perform our 
duty to the Lords or their assigns." Accordingly, 
when the time came, or rather the day previous, a 
vote was passed that every man bring in to the ap- 
pointed receivers, u his just share and proportion of 
wheat for his lands ;" and that on " the next day," the 
25th of March, 1110, the day fixed by the Concessions, 
the said receivers " should carry it to Elizabethtown, 
and make a tender of it to the Governor upon the ac- 
count of the Lords Proprietors' rent ."* Year by year, 



* Town Records, p. 29. That individ- 
uals in the community may have been de- 
linquent or tardy in their discharge of pe- 
cuniary obligations is very likely ; but how 
far it is possible to fix such a charge upon 
the people of Newark, as a community, 
let the following extracts from the Town 
Records tell. Quit-rents first became due 
March 25, 1670. 

" Town meeting, March 24, 1669-70, it 
was by their joint vote agreed that Henry 
Lyon [the treasurer] and Thomas Johnson 
[the constable] should take and receive 
every man's just share and proportion of 
wheat for his land, the summer wheat at 
4s. per bushel, and winter wheat at 5s., 
according to the order and time prefixed to 
them, to bring it to Johnson's house before 
the day be over ; or else if they fail they 
are to double the quantity; which corn 
the said Lyon and Johnson are to-morrow 
to carry to Elizabethtown and make a ten- 
der thereof to the Governor upon the ac- 
count of the Lords Proprietors' rent for 



the lands we make use of according to 
articles March 25, 1670." — pp. 28-9. 

" Town meeting, 20 March,1670-1. Item 
— It was agreed that Henry Lyon and 
Thomas Johnson shall go to our Governor 
in behalf of the town and make a tender to 
him in good wheat for the payment of their 
half penny per acre to him for the Lords 
Proprietors in like manner as they did the 
last year, at the day appointed, in case he 
will accept of the same. That then they 
are fully empowered to give notice by the 
warners of the town for every one to bring 
in his proportion of corn to the constable's 
house the morning of the day appointed, by 
seven or eight o'clock, that they may send 
it to their Governor and take a discharge 
of him for the same ; and they are at least 
to bring in as much as they did last year, 
and more if they [the officers] see cause." 
N. B.— The doubt seems to have been 
whether the Governor would accept the 
quit-rents in wheat, as they had no money, 
—p. 33. 



46 



LAW AND OKDETC. 



through all that early period, and notwithstanding 
what was done to the contrary elsewhere, this order 
was regularly renewed ; and it is no small compliment 
to the town, that the Proprietors, three quarters of a 
century after, make the declaration that so far as they 
know, neither they nor their predecessors, " from the 
first settlement of the Province to this day, ever had 
any controversy in law or equity with the people of 
Newark."* 

The early settlers of Newark were eminently a law- 
loving and law-abiding people. When they arrived, 
no laws had been established in the Province. There- 
fore we found them re-establishing, for a temporary 
purpose, those which had been in force in the old col- 
ony, and covenanting one with another to submit 
cheerfully to the authority of such magistrates as 
should be chosen from among themselves. It was 
well that they made this agreement, for in the stormy 
and unsettled times which ensued, they would have 
been left almost without government but for this 
voluntary civil compact, on which they found occasion 
more than once to throw themselves back.f 

The orders for the two years following emn agreement to submit to law and au- 

the above will be quoted on another page : thority among ourselves, till it be settled 

They are equally strict. After that, the in the Province. Its record, fol. 3." [It 

Dutch came into power, and the Proprie- is recorded, p. 3.] Town Records, p. 32. 

tary rights were suspended. Another instance equally noticeable oc- 

* Appendix to Bill in Chancery, p. 36. curs March 25, 1689-90, a few months 

t An instance of this sort occurs under after the Deputy-Governor " Hamilton left 

date of Jan. 2, 1670-1, during the period East Jersey for Europe, in August, 1689, 

in which Governor Philip Carteret was and the inhabitants were left to the guar- 

struggling vainly to govern the people dianship of their county and town officers 

without an Assembly ; the laws enacted from that time until 1692." (Whitehead, 

in 1668 having expired by limitation, un- p. 129.) It is as follows : "It is voted that 

less they had been formally confirmed by there shall be a committee chosen to order 

the Proprietors in England, of which I all affairs in as prudent a way as they can, 

am not aware that there is any evidence, for the safety and preservation of our- 

The record is, " We renew all of our sol- selves, wives, children and estates, accord- 



DISSATISFACTION WITII THE GOVERNMENT. 47 



But though gifted with more than an ordinary skill 
in governing themselves, we find in their proceedings, 
little evidence of a reluctance to submit to higher 
authority when legally established. It has been al- 
leged indeed, that once, in the year 1672, their repre- 
sentatives united with those of other towns in an 
illegal General Assembly, which deposed the Gover- 
nor, appointed another in his stead, and took the reins 
of government into their own hands.* It may be so. 
Yet I must crave the privilege to doubt whether the 
true spirit of that transaction has been fully under- 
stood. The reason ordinarily assigned for it is an un- 
willingness on the part of the people to pay the quit- 
rents. But it is capable of proof that no such motives 
could have actuated the people of Newark; since, 
at the beginning of that very year, the town distinctly 
recognized the obligation, and made provision for the 
payment; and at the close of it, in view of the ap- 
proaching pay-day, gave a peremptory order that the 
whole should be seasonably collected, and authorized 

ing to the capacity we are in. Mr. Ward, Receiver General, and others, and obliged 
Mr. Johnson, Azariah Crane, William Governor Carteret to fly to England to com- 
Camp, Edward Ball and John Brown are plain of these proceedings," &c. " They, 
chosen to join with those in military ca- with the inhabitants of sundry other 
pacity." Town Records, p. 114. towns, prevailed on James Carteret, a 
* Bill in Chancery, pp. 67, 68. " It ap- weak and dissolute youth, son of Sir 
pears that in the year 1672, not only the George Carteret, one of the Proprietors, 
inhabitants of Elizabethtown, but also to assume upon him the actual exercise 
those of Newark, Woodbridge and Piscat- of the government of New Jersey, as by 
away did, contrary to the very agreements their election, who not only pretended 
upon which th3y had settled and were ad- that title to the government, but also as 
raitted inhabitants, pretend to the right Proprietor by grant of his father to him," 
both of soil and government, by Nichols' 8 &c. p. 35. See also an address to Berk- 
grant aforesaid, and by their own author- ley and Carteret by the Council in 1672. 
ity elected James Carteret, son of Sir E. J. Records. Graham^ p. 466. White- 
George Carteret as their President and ead, pp. 55, 56. 
Governor, imprisoned the Secretary and 



48 



ALLEGED RESISTANCE. 



the constable to distrain for the amount in case any 
persons should prove themselves delinquent * 

Dissatisfaction with the course of the Proprietary 
Government we often find in them. Probably both 
they and the neighboring settlements had more occa- 
sion for it than can now be proved. Their petitions 
for redress of grievances, and their negociations for 
the security of what they deemed their just rights are 
to be seen all along the history of their procedure. 
But of resistance to lawful authority in its lawful exer- 
cise, I find no satisfactory evidence. 

As the transaction in question may be thought to 
affect the character of some of the leading men of the 
community at that time, I may be justified in giving 
it a more extended consideration than would otherwise 
be suitable to an ecclesiastical narrative. The allega- 
tion referred to, it must be observed, rests chiefly on 
the authority of the Proprietary party, while it is per- 
emptorily denied by their opponent s,f and it is agreed 
I believe, on all hands, that no little obscurity hangs 
over the whole matter. 

* Newark Town Records, pp. 39, 41, 45. must distrain for it." In the month of 
Under date of Nov. 14, 1671, it is recorded May following, the disturbances above al- 
as follows : " Concerning- rates it was luded to took place. Under date of Jan. 
agreed that all rates that shall be levied 31, 1672-3, it is recorded as follows; "It 
this present year, (except the Lord rent and was agreed and voted that the rate for the 
the surveying of land) should be made half -penny an acre shall be brought in to the 

and levied by per sous," &c. and constable's house, by the third day of Feb- 

concerning the Lords' rent and surveying of ruary next ; and in case it be not brought 

lands, the charges thereof should be levied in by or on that day, the constable shall 

by lands only." Further on, under the have liberty to distrain for it, and those 

same date, we find the following : " The that are the occasion of it shall bear all 

rates made for the town were read and the charges about it." 
published ; and it is agreed, that every t See Answer to the Bill in Chancery, 

man should pay in his proportion to the pp. 24-5. " And these defendants further 

treasurer, between this and the 10th of Feb- answering do deny that they, or those un- 

ruary next, or else the constable by order der whom they claim, did ever apply to 



GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 



49 



Tlie circumstances, as far as I can gather theni, 
seem to be nearly as follows: The Concessions had 
secured to the people the privilege of an annual Gen- 
eral Assembly, with power to appoint its own time 
and place of meeting, and adjourn its sessions from 
time to time, u as they should think convenient."* But 
before the close of the first meeting, the Governor and 
Council came into collision with the representatives, 
on the question whether the two branches should sit 
together or in separate chambers,f a question not set- 
tled in the terms of the Concessions, but by a very 
natural construction, determinable in favor of the peo- 
ple's views. $ On this dispute the Assembly was broken 
up, with an implied threat on the part of the Govern- 
ment, that the people would get the worst of the 
bargain. And so it proved. For the Governor and 
Council seem to have taken the responsibility after 
this, of governing the country for the most part with- 
out a General Assembly.§ Meanwhile, suspicions were 

James Carteret, in the Bill mentioned, to way rather to break up our meeting, see- 
prevail on him to assume the powers of ing the order of the Concessions cannot be 
government, as in and by the said bill of attended to." Grants and Concessions, p. 
complaint is, as they believe most untruly 90. Whitehead, p. 190. 
suggested." X The requirement that the Governor 
* The privilege of an annual General should preside in the Assembly, seems 
Assembly, was one of the chief safeguards to imply that there was to be but one 
of the people's rights, and probably one of body. So does the manner of stating the 
the chief inducements for the settlers to required quorum. (Grants and Conces- 
rernove hither from New England. Its sions, p. 15.) 

first session was held fifteen years in ad- § It has been stated that no Assembly 
vance of any similar body in New York ; met after this for seven years. Thia 
where the notions of the Governor re- must be a mistake. Smith states (Hist, 
specting taxation, &c, are a sufficient il- New Jersey, pp. 69, 70,) that an extra- 
lustration of the value of such a provision, ordinary Council was held in New York 
(See Bancroft, vol. ii, p. 321, 1st ed.) in Sept. 1671, between the Governors of 
t The representatives complained also New York and New Jersey and others, in 
that the Concessions were not observed relation to some depredations by the In- 
on the part of the Governor and Council, dians, in which, among other measures 
"And therefore," say they, "we think our for chastising the offenders, it was agreed 

4 



50 



AEBITEAEY EULE. 



afloat that the Governor was strengthening himself 
against the people, by secretly accumulating arms in 
his own possession, and weakening their strength by 
interfering with the training of their militia.* There is 
no doubt that the people feared their liberties and 
rights were exposed to peril. And what was to be 
done ? The laws enacted in 1668 had probably ex- 
pired by limitation ; and there were now no laws 
rightfully established in the Province.f Meanwhile 
questions of exciting interest were agitating the minds 
of the people in some parts of the Province, and 
prompting to rebellion and violence. The Governor, 
struggling to maintain authority without law, was re- 
sorting to a variety of expedients, erecting courts by 
his own arbitrary mandates, or what is the same in ef- 
fect, extending the jurisdiction of existing local courts 
in violation of the express provisions of the Conces- 
sions. J The people who had come hither and em- 
barked their dearest interests in the settlement of the 

"that the Governor of New Jersey and from Smith, that Sir George's dissolute 

Captain James Carteret (then present) son had been allowed to exercise some 

should expeditiously order a General As- authority in the Proprietary Government 

sembly to be called in that Government (ac- before the people drew him out of obscur- 

cording to their custom upon all emergent ity for their own purposes, 

occasions) to know the people's strength * Whitehead, p. 57, note. E. J. Records, 

and readiness, and how far they were f The Concessions, in giving authority 

willing to contribute towards the prosecu- to the Assemby to enact laws, provided 

tion of a war against the Indians." That that these laws should " be enforced for 

this General Assembly was actually or- the space of one year and no more," with- 

dered, appears from the Newark Town Re- out a formal confirmation by the Proprie- 

cords, where, under date of Sept. 29, 1671.. tors. Several incidental notices in the 

we find Jasper Crane and Robert Treat, Newark Town Records, indicate that those 

chosen " as deputies for the service of the enacted in 1668 were not so confirmed, 

Assembly, to meet October 3d, according perhaps not presented for confirmation - r 

to the Governor's warrant." There was and if not, there were at this time no laws 

also an Assembly in session June 13th, in the province, except such local laws as 

1673. (See Bill in Chancery, p. 7.) N. towns might be authorized to enact. 

B. — It would seem, from the above extract X See Whitehead, p. 55 ; also East Jer- 



MEASUEES OF SELF PROTECTION. 



51 



Province, under the express assurance that law and 
order should be maintained on the principles of a free 
Constitution, saw themselves becoming the victims of 
anarchy on the one hand, and of a power to whose 
progressive encroachments they could assign no limits 
on the other. It was very plain that the time had 
come to do something, as the people of Newark very 
pertinently expressed the case, " to order matters for 
the safety of the country."* 

In these circumstances two courses were open to 
them ; the one was to petition the Proprietors in Eng- 
land ; but that was a slow process, and of uncertain 
issue. The other was to avail themselves of the first 
opportunity to restore, in some legal way, that best of 
safeguards, a Legislative Assembly, f 

sey Records, where the orders given to chosen on this occasion, were Robert 
extend the jurisdiction of the courts of Treat and Jasper Crane, principals, and 
Bergen and Woodbridge are to be found. Samuel Swaine, 'third man.' But before 
Compare Grants and Concessions, p. 16, the meeting took place Treat was pre- 
where the power to "constitute all courts^ paring to return to Connecticut, therefore 
together with the limits, powers, and ju- Swaine took his place, 
risdictions of the same" is conferred on f During all the period in which no As- 
the General Assembly. sembly had been convened, regularly as 

* Newark Town Records, p. 43. These the year came round, Newark had her 
are the terms of the commission given to deputies chosen, principals and substi- 
the representatives from Newark, the day tutes, so that wherever else the fault may 
before the meeting of the Assembly at have been, there was no failure on her 
which the transactions complained of took part in carrying out this fundamental pro- 
place. Prior to this, January 22, 1671-2, yision of the Constitution. There is no 
"Mr. Treat and Lieut. Swaine are deputed notice in the Town Records of an appoint- 
to take the first opportunity to advise with ment of deputies to the Assembly of 1668, 
Mr. Ogden, (John Ogden of Elizabeth- but we learn from other documents that 
town,) or any other they shall see cause, the town was represented by Robert 
what may be the safest and best course Treat and Samuel Swaine at the first 
to be taken for the town, about our lands meeting in the Spring, and by Jasper 
and settlements here." But now, "May Crane and Robert Treat at the adjourned 
13, 1672, Mr. Crane and Lieut. Swaine, meeting in November. We may there- 
that were chosen representatives for the fore assume that the appointment for that 
town, are desired by the town to consult year was the same as in the years imme- 
with the rest of the representatives of the diately subsequent, and shall have the 
country, to order matters for the safety following as the appointments of deputies 
of the country." The representatives 



52 



SPECIAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY. 



They chose the latter. In an emergency requiring 
supplies to be furnished by the people, the Governor 
was induced to issue writs for the convening of a spe- 
cial^General Assembly, early in the month of October, 
1671.* At this Assembly, Newark took care to be 
represented by two of her best men — Messrs. Treat 
and Crane — and it seems probable that during 
its sessions the Assembly which met in the follow- 
ing Spring was agreed upon. The Governor com- 
plained that the latter body was convened without 
writs from him; and moreover, what appears to be 
the head and front of offending, it was alleged that the 
representatives had before " taken the liberty to differ 
from the Governor and Council in establishing matters 
for the settlement of the people."f Very likely 

to the General Assembly during the first 1 Jan., 1672-3. " Mr. Crane and Mr. 

eight years : Bond are chosen deputies for the General 

1667-S. — Jasper Crane, Eobert Treat Assembly, for the year ensuing, and Lieut, 

and Samuel Swaine, as third man. Swaine the third man." p. 45. 

1 Jan., 1668-9. "Mr. Crane and Mr. The Dutch came into power July 80th, 
Treat are chosen deputies or burgesses 1678. Philip Carteret returned and re- 
fer the General Assembly for the year en- sumed his authority Nov. 6, 1674. 
suing, and Lieut. Swaine is chosen a third "Nov. 7, 1674. Mr. Ward and Mr. 
man in case of either of the others fail- Kitchel are chosen as deuputies to go over 
ing." Town Records, p. 10. to Bergen to hear what the Governor hath 

1 Jan., 1669-70. "Mr. Crane and Mr. to say according to his warrant." p. 53. 
Treat are chosen deputies to the General Jan. 1, 1675-6. "It is voted that the 
Assembly, if there shall be any." p. 21. deputies for the General Assembly in 

2 Jan., 1670-1. " Mr. Crane and Mr. April shall be chosen by vote with hands. 
Treat are chosen deputies for the General Lieut. Ward and Thomas Johnson are 
Assembly, and Lieut. Swaine as the third chosen to attend to that business, and 
man." p. 32. Capt. Samuel Swaine is the third man." 

29 Sept., 1671. "Mr. Jasper Crane and p. 56. 
Robert Treat are again chosen deputies in * See note, p. 49. Smith's Hist. N. J., 

our town for the service of the Assembly p. 69, 70. In recording the appointment 

on the 3d Oct., ensuing the date, accord- of deputies, Mr. Recorder Treat took care 

ing to the Governor's warrant." p. 38. to have no mistake as to the authority by 

1 Jan., 1671-2. " Mr. J. Crane and Mr. which they were summoned in this in- 

Robert Treat are chosen deputies for the stance. Hence, perhaps, the significance 

General Assembly for the year, and Sam- of the words: "According to the Governor's 

uel Swaine is chosen the third man." p. ivarrant." — p. 38. 
40- t East Jersey Records. 



THE PEOPLE APPOINT AN ASSEMBLY. 



53 



these representatives, being most of them New 
England men, had taken the fancy that popular legis- 
lators have the right to differ from Governors in such 
matters when they see occasion; and as no writs had 
been issued for a long time previous, nor were likely 
to be in time to come, they may have supposed them- 
selves justified, now they were lawfully together, in 
appointing time and place for another meeting.* How- 
ever that may be, it appears that they did meet, both 
in the months of March and May following, though 
the laws which they enacted at the former date are 
not on record, the Deputy Secretary having run away 
with the minutes.f 

And now what were the transactions ? The current 
account is, that at the meeting in May, the people de- 
posed the rightful Governor, and appointed James 
Carteret in his stead. But it is worthy of remark that 
the Governor and Council themselves, at the time, 
made a different representation. They charged the 

*It is worthy of remark, that in the cording to the "declaration," is this: "As 
abridgement of the Assembly's powers by to the General Assembly, that it shall be 
the Proprietors, consequent on the trans- in the power of the Governor and his 
action in question, this right of appointing Council to appoint the times and places 
time and place for its own meetings was of meeting of the General Assembly, and 
transferred from that body to the more to adjourn and summon them together 
friendly hands of the Governor and Coun- again when and where he and they shall 
cil. The instrument by which this was see cause." On the whole, we can hardly 
done, is entitled, " A declaration of the regard it as surprising, that before the 
true intent and meaning of us, the Lords " declaration" was promulgated, the peo- 
Proprietors, and explanation of their pie should have failed to divine this same 
Concessions made to the Adventurers and "true intent and meaning," and that mis- 
Planters of New Cassarea or New Jersey." understandings and collisions should have 
The terms of the Concessions were as fol- arisen in consequence, even in the most 
lows: "Which Assembly are to have loyal community. (See Grants and Con- 
power, First, to appoint their own time of cessions, pp. 15-33. ) 
meeting, and to adjourn their sessions t East Jersey Records. The person re- 
from time to time to such places as they ferred to above, was William Pardon, for 
shall think convenient," But the " true whose arrest James Carteret issued a war- 
intent and meaning" of these terms ac- rant, May 25, 1672, requiring him to be 



,54 



PRESIDENT APPOINTED. 



Assembly with appointing James Carteret, not as their 
Governor, but as their President. Now such an officer 
the Concessions authorized the Assembly to appoint in 
certain contingencies, and the right to do so contained 
an important safeguard of their liberties. That in- 
strument provides that the Governor or his deputy shall 
foe present in the deliberations of the General Assem- 
bly, " unless they shall wilfully refuse, in which case 
they [the Assembly] may appoint themselves a Presi- 
dent during the absence of the Governor or Deputy 
Governor."* 

Acts of apparent violence have been charged on 
this Assembly. " They imprisoned," it is said, " some 
of the officers of the Government, and confiscated their 
estates."f But what are the facts ? One William 
Pardon, recently appointed Deputy Secretary of the 
Province, was arrested on a writ issued in his Majesty's 
name, probably by a Justice of the Peace ; and he 
having twice escaped from the constable, other writs 

kept in custody " till he deliver up the a fly leaf of the Newark Town Records, 

acts of laws made by the General Assem- However, the Proprietors rewarded him 

bly at their sitting the 26th of March last, for the use they made of him, by a grant 

the which laws the said William Pardon of five thousand acres of land, and the of- 

now refuseth to deliver." On the 25th of fice of Receiver General, after his return 

June following, Pardon having twice es- from England. (See Whitehead, p. 56, 

caped from the constable, John Ogden note. 

gave an order for the 'attachment of his * Grants and Concessions, p. 15. The 
goods, speaking of the laws in question, constitution of Connecticut, besides con- 
as " committed to the said Pardon, to take taming a similar provision, empowered 
a copy of them by order of the General the people to call a General Assembly 
Assembly, which he hath neglected and through the constable, if the Governor 
refuseth to do, and also to deliver up the and magistrates should refuse to doit. See 
said laws unto the Assembly at the next Trumbull, Hist. Conn., p. 102. Had the 
sitting, by whom they were demanded.'' Concessions contained this latter provis- 
East Jersey Records. " This William Par- ion, the people of Newark, it is presumed, 
don seems to have been a man of various would not have regularly appointed their 
troubles, domestic as well as civil, if we representatives three years in succession 
may judge from his valorous proclamation for nothing, 
against his disloyal wife, still extant on t Bill in Chancery, pp. 35, 63. 



CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT. 



55 



were issued, on similar authority, for the attachment and 
detention of his property. But what was the object? 
Why, simply to recover possession, for the Assembly, 
of their own records, which that functionary had ab- 
stracted and refused to surrender. The papers are ex- 
tant, and can tell their own story.* 

What other acts of alleged violence or usurped au- 
thority may have been committed, I know not. No 
others are specified. The Governor left the country 
and went to England shortly after, by advice of his 
Council, to complain to the Proprietors ; and James 
Carteret may have been, as some histories represent the 
case, thereupon acknowledged as Governor.f But his 
proceedings, as the Council at the time state explicit- 
ly, were not based simply on the authority conferred 
upon him by the people. He acted under a pretended 
grant from his father, Sir George Carteret, and right 
as Proprietor, which empowered him to remove the 
Governor at his own pleasure. $ 

* John Ogden, who issued the warrant ber 14, 1672, we find the following rnin- 
for attaching his goods was, or had been a ute : " There was a full vote, passed Au- 
justice of the peace, audit is not unnatural gust 10, 1672, that is not here recorded, 
to suppose Capt. James Carteret might but it is recorded fol. 36." Three or fou r 
have had a similar commission. The con- years later, when after a temporary sus- 
stable to whom the warrant was issued, pension of its power by the Dutch con- 
was William Meeker, of Elizabethtown, quest, the Proprietary Government was 
whom the people indemnified for his losses restored with increased authority, it was 
several years afterwards. Newark Town deemed expedient to subject this vote to 
Records, p. 62. the expunging process, and we find under 

tGrahame says, p. 466, "He," i.e. date of Feb. 25, 1675-6, the following: "It 

Philip Carteret, " was compelled to return is voted, that the vote which was passed 

to England, stripped of his functions, the 10th of August, 1672, and recorded in 

which the Colonists forthwith conferred fol. 36, concerning the government, shall 

on a natural son of Sir George Carteret, be obliterated by the clerk." 
November 1672, by whom their preten- % "All these proceedings he carried on 

sions were abetted." Chalmers makes a with pretence that he hath power suffi- 

similar statement, p. 616. In the New- cient, he being Sir George Carteret's son, 

ark Town Records, under date of Novem- that he is a Proprietor, and can put out 



56 



PETITION FOR REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. 



No doubt a change of Government was for a time ef- 
fected, and possibly the pretence which this unworthy, 
but privileged personage, set up, that he had private 
authority from the superior' powers — a pretence which 
must have gained some color from the fact that he had 
before been allowed to exercise a kind of joint author- 
ity with his uncle, Philip Carteret,* was yielded to by 
the people more readily than it would have been un- 
der less pressing circumstances. Certain it is that the 
people did not consider themselves as disowning the 
authority of the Proprietors, since they proceeded im- 
mediately to make their appeal to them in a petition 
for redress of grievances. 

What their own statement of these grievances was 
we do not know. Their opponents were on the 
ground, and had the ear both of the Proprietors 
and of the King, while they could only speak 
from a distance. The Proprietors, in their reply, 
literally scolded them like naughty children, and seized 
the first opportunity to abridge their privileges. But 
had we before us their own statements, we should 
doubtless see even more clearly than we can at pres- 
ent, that there were at least two sides to the question.f 

the Governor as he pleases." (Extract care we have of your pretended griev- 

from the Address to Berkley and Carteret ances and complaints have examined some 

by the Council. East Jersey Records ) particulars thereof, the Governor and Mr. 

* See note, p. 49. Also Smith's Hist. Bollen being now in town ; yet we are 

New Jersey, p. 70. ready to do you all the justice you can ex- 

t The words of the reply are as follows: pect, though you have been unjust to us, 

Grant and Concessions, p. 40. by which means you have brought a trou- 

" To the pretended representatives of ble upon yourselves ; and if you will send 

Elizabethtown, Newark and New Piscata- over any person to make good your alle- 

way, and all others whom it may concern : gations in your petition, (while the Gov- 

" We have received a long petition from ernor is here,) we shall be ready to hear 

you and of no date, yet out of a tender all parties and incline to do you right, al- 



DEFENCE OF EIGHTS NOT INSURRECTION. 



57 



One tiling at least is certain, and capable of proof. 
The fathers of Newark, in the transactions referred to, 
were no band of lawless anti-renters, seeking to de- 
fraud the legal proprietors by setting np titles to the 
soil, adverse to theirs. It was not Indian purchases, it 
was not Nichols' grants, it was not repugnance to quit- 
rents which, on their part, formed the occasion for dis- 
turbances, which have been too incautiously set down 
in history as insurrection. It was a contest for liber- 
ties, for solemnly guarantied rights. Some portion of 
the blood of 1776 was creeping quietly in the ancestral 
veins of these worthy men. And, if it be true that 
Robert Treat, Jasper Crane, Samuel Swaine and their 
associates, did in any respect transcend the forms of 
law, as, however, has not been proved, we may be sure 
that they did it not without good reason, and because 
what they believed to be their sacred rights, seemed 
in imminent peril. 



though you have not had such a tender Gawen Lawrie, the first Governor ap- 
regard of our concerns in those parts as pointed under the twenty-four Proprie- 
in justice you ought to have had ; and we tors who purchased the Province a few 
do likewise expect for the future you will years later, gave this testimony to the 
yield due obedience to our government character of the settlers of East Jersey, 
and laws within the province of New Cae- " The people are generally a sober, pro- 
sarea or New Jersey, and then we shall fessing people, wise in their generation, 
not be wanting to manifest ourselves ac- courteous in their behaviour, and respect- 
cording to your deportment. Dated this ful to us in office." On which Grahame, 
11th day of December, 1672." who had probably formed his judgment 
* It may be that a more full investiga- chiefly from the representations of the 
tion would put a different complexion Proprietary party, remarks very justly, 
upon some features of the case from that " If we might rely implicitly on the opin- 
which I have given them in the text ; but ion of this observer, we should impute 
from a careful comparison of all the docu- the dissensions that had previously oc- 
ments and statements of historians within curred in the Province, to the folly and 
my reach, especially the Newark Town mismanagement of Carteret and his asso- 
Records, the impression has been strong- ciates in the government." p. 481. Could 
ly made upon my mind, that the people this candid historian have seen the rec- 
were far less censurable in those dis- ords of the people in their local communi- 
orderly transactions than their rulers, ties, at least in this community, he would 



58 



DUTCH CONQUEST. 



Nor did they stop here. Still confident in the justice 
of their cause, and notwithstanding the reception their 
petition had met with, the men of Newark made another 
attempt to obtain justice at the hands of the Proprie- 
tors* From the Newark Town Records it appears that 
a second petition for redress was ordered to be sent 
to England in the month of July, 1673, and five prin- 
cipal men of the town were appointed to consult with 
messengers from other towns in preparing and sending 
it. But meanwhile, the difficulties still remaining un- 
settled, and war between England and Holland having 
broken out, the Dutch took armed possession of the 
Province, and the Proprietary Government was dis- 
placed. Nor can we wonder much, considering the cir- 
cumstances, that smarting as they were with their sup- 
posed grievances, the colonists should have made some 
haste in trying what might be hoped for from their 
new masters. It appears by the record, that but five 
days had elapsed after the surrender of New York, be- 
fore the people of Newark ordered a petition for privi- 
leges to be sent to the " Generals at New Orange and 
again, ten months later, that they petitioned the same au- 
thorities "for the obtaining a confirmation of our bought 
and paid for lands/ 1 But peace returned ; the Pro- 
prietary Government was restored with new powers ; 
the Concessions, qualified by a so-called " declaration 

have seen less occasion than he supposed ter a little fire kindleth, and being desi- 

for qualifying that inference with an if. rous, and also sensible that it is the duty 

* Deputy Governor Berry seems about as well to endeavor peace and friendship 

this time to have had some doubts con- among the neighbors, as to administer 

cerning the wisdom of the course pursued justice." Proclamation forbidding re- 

by the government ; ''"having had sad ex- proachful words, &c. E. J. Records, 
perience/' as he said, "how great a mat- 



AUTHORITY UNCERTAIN. 



59 



of their true intent and meaning," which greatly abridg- 
ed the privileges conferred by them, were rigidly en- 
forced ; the " Articles" seem to have become a nullity, 
and the people had no choice but to submit to uncon- 
trollable circumstances.* They did submit ; and the 
leading men of this town at least, took patents for 
their lands, after some attempts at negotiation, on the 
terms prescribed.f 

The position of the early settlers of this Province, 
as loyal men, was attended with no little embarrass- 
ment. Amidst the doubtful and sometimes conflicting 
claims of their superiors, it was often difficult to deter- 
mine whose was the rightful authority. J The Duke of 

York, who had released the soil and government to 

• 

* As the original Concessions reserved that once paid its court to freedom, and 
no right of alterations, at least so far as seemed so graceful in it, began, now that 
such alterations might prejudice the rights its first ends were gained, and the waste 
of those who should have settled before lands settled, to deem a little tyranny 
they were made ; the people, as might more suitable to its ulterior designs ! 
have been supposed, submitted very re- ' t Tokens of their reluctance are very 
luctantly to along bill of professed "ex- manifest in the Town Records. At first 
planations," which took away some of the they replied to the summons from the 
best privileges expressly insured to Governor, that " they see not their way^ 
them. They pronounced the "Declaration clear to patent on the terms proposed;' 
of the true intent and meaning of the then, in order that their rights might b3 
Lords Proprietors, and explanation of the satisfactorily set forth, a committee of 
Concessions" to be " a breach of the Con- three principal men were sent to Eliza- 
cessions." The two, they say, are "con- bethtown with a statement and petition; 
tradictory one with the other." See a in preparing which, the services of both 
synopsis of a correspondence between the the ministers were put in requisition, 
representatives and the Council in 1681, Town Records, pp. 54-6. 
which ended in the Governor's dissolving X An amusing instance of this uncer- 
the Assembly. Whitehead, p. 193. The tainty appears on the Town Records, un- 
candid reader, I think, will readily come der date of July 28th, 1669, viz. : " The 
to the same conclusion with the represen- town made choice of Mr. Crane and Mr. 
tatives. Nor is it strange that seeds o^ Treat to take the first opportunity to go 
discontent thus sown, ripened at length over to York to advise with Col. Lovelace 
into such power, that the Proprietors concerning our standing, whether we are 
were obliged to relinquish into other hands designed to be a part of the Duke's Colony 
the reins of government. Alas! avarice, or no." p. 19. 



60 



USUKPATION OF ANDROS. 



Berkley and Carteret, seems to have meditated for a 
long time the recovery of both. At least, the right of 
government on their part was on some occasions vio- 
lently contested "by his officers. When, in the year 
16 79, Sir Edmond Andros, relying, it is supposed, on 
the co-operation of a party disaffected towards the Pro- 
prietary title, undertook to seize the reins of govern- 
ment in the name of the Duke, and with that purpose 
"issued a proclamation abrogating the government 
of Carteret, and requiring all persons to submit forth- 
with to the King's authority as embodied in himself,"* 
the spirited answer of the men of Newark shows 
that they, at least in this instance, were not wanting in 
fidelity to the existing authorities. It is on record 
* that " the town being met together, give their positive 
answer to the Governor of York's writ, that they have 
taken the oath of allegiance to the King and fidelity 
to the present Government, and until we have sufficient 
order from his Majesty, we will stand by the same."f 
But scarcely had they made this demonstration, be- 
fore Governor Carteret, yielding to violence, had by 
his own act demitted his authority, and " the powers 
that be " were for the present no longer the same.J In 
all these difficulties, candor obliges us to confess, the 
fathers of Newark conducted themselves with rare 
wisdom and uprightness. 

Equally just and liberal were their transactions with 
the savage aborigines. The testimony of an aged In- 

* Whitehead, p. 72. mitted to Andros, till contrary orders 

t Newark Town Records, p. 78. came from England. See Answer to Bill 

% Whitehead, p. 74. It appears that in Chancery, p. 11. 
after this, the people of the Province sub- 



TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. 



61 



dian, given in the year 1832, concerning the people of 
the State generally, belongs in an eminent degree to 
their puritan fathers in this settlement. " Not a drop 
of our blood have you spilled in battle — not an acre 
of our land have you taken but by our consent."* 
Taught by their experience of former perils, they pre- 
pared themselves for defence, and took especial care to 
guard against surprises ; but taught also by the same 
experience to understand the Indian character better 
than it was understood in New England at an earlier 
day, they succeeded by their fair and kind treatment in 
avoiding all occasion for violence. 

The settlers of Newark were an eminently indus- 
trious^ enterprising, public-spirited race ; firm, without 
bigotry ; gentle and affectionate, without weakness ; 
very kind and loving people, as the plain Scotch- 

* See Field's Provincial Courts, p. 5, his encouragement to settle in the town 
note. Grahame, p. 465, attributes the and follow his trade."— Records, pp. 26, 
purchasing of all the lands to be occupied 30. In 1673-4 it was "agreed that the 
by the inhabitants from the aboriginal weavers, Thomas Pierson and Benjamin 
claimants, to the prudence and equity of Baldwin should be considered by the sur- 
Philip Carteret, to which the Proprietors veyors." So in 1680, Samuel Whitehead 
acceded. But it was certainly no sugges- was permitted to become a settler on con- 
tion of Philip Carteret that led to the pur- dition of "his supplying the town with 
chase of the Newark tract, for he abso- shoes." Among the reservations of land 
lutely refused to have any thing to do with at the beginning, there was a miller's lot, 
the matter. Indeed, the Elizabethtown a tailor's lot, a boatman and a seaman's 
tract was purchased in like manner, be- lot. Rockwell, the boatman, was admit- 
fore the Proprietors came into possession, ted to town privileges in March, 1668, 
It was the Puritans who first adopted the upon condition " that he doth this very 
equitable rule. Grahame probably refers spring season come and settle here in our 
to a rule subsequently adopted, the object town, and maintain this or such like 
of which was to prevent any but the Pro- sufficient boat for the use of the town, or 
prietors from purchasing, and thereby particular persons in the town, on [such] 
laying claim to a legal title irrespective considerations for his boat as he or tbey 
of them. [shall] agree, so long as the Lord shall 

t The encouragement which they gave enable him therefor." Shortly after, Az- 

to manufactures has often been remarked ariah Beech was admitted on similar con- 

upon. In 1669, and again in 1670, Jona- ditions. Town Records, pp. 15, 17. 
than Sargeant had lands granted him "for 



62 



THE CHUKCH CONGKEGATIONAL. 



man's observation taught him to regard the Puritan 
race generally in East Jersey ; and yet bold defenders 
of their rights. The same promptness, energy and 
good management marks their entire procedure, and 
the same fidelity to all the claims of justice, and 
religion. The men who, in conjunction with their 
worthy pastor, laid the foundations of this ancient 
Church, have shown by all the traces of them which 
remain, that they were men who united strong practi- 
cal common sense with the purest morals and devoted 
piety. 

But it js time for us to pass to matters more strictly 
ecclesiastical. The Church, organized as we have seen 
in Branford, Conn., in the year 1644, and transferred 
to Newark in 1667, was unquestionably at this period 
settled in the Congregational order, and that of the 
most primitive and distinguishing type. The ministers 
of New Haven Colony, who were present at the 
framing of the Cambridge Platform, adhered to that 
foundation, and were averse to any material deviation 
from its provisions. What were the methods of public 
worship and religious instruction pursued in Newark, 
besides the regular services of the Sabbath and a 
stated lecture, we are not informed. Had we their rec- 
ords, we should doubtless learn that, as in the Church- 
es of the mother Colony, the people " were strict in 
their admission of members .to full communion," and 
" those who were admitted generally made a public re- 
lation of their Christian experiences, by which they 
gave satisfaction to the Church of their repentance, 



HOUSE OF WORSHIP ERECTED. 63 

faith, and sincere friendship to the Redeemer."* It 
was their purpose to appoint a ruling elder, and with 
that view a lot of ground was set apart for his use. 
But as we find no other traces of such an officer, and 
the land after a few years was granted piece by piece 
to other settlers, it is probable that that feature of an- 
cient Congregationalism was never adopted in New- 
ark.f 

The first movement towards the erection of a 
house of worship was made on the 10th of September, 
1668, when the town voted to " build a meeting-house, 
as soon as may be ;" and, " for the better carrying it to 
an end," made choice of five men, namely, Deacon 
Ward, Sergeant Harrison and his son. John, Sergeant 
Edward Riggs and Michael Tompkins, " with full 
power for the management of the building," promising 
"to lend them their best help according to their pro- 
portions," whenever due warning should be given, and 
requiring each man to work at least two days, if called 
out, or give satisfactory reason to the contrary. Pres- 
ently after this, a bargain was made with three of the 
men — Deacon Ward, Sergeant Harrison and Sergeant 
Riggs — to build the house for *a certain sum, and build 
it soon and well, " with some abatement in the price if 

* Trumbull, Hist. Conn., vol. i, p, 313. vol. i, p. 283. "This power of govern- 

+ " The business of the ruling elder was ment in the elders," says the Cambridge 

to assist the pastor in the government of Platform, " doth not in any wise prejudice 

the Church. He was particularly set the power of privilege in the brotherhood ; 

apart to watch over all its members, to as neither the power of privilege in the 

prepare and bring forward all cases of brethren doth prejudice the power of gov- 

discipline, to visit and pray with the sick, ernment in the elders ; lut they may sweet- 

and in the absence of the pastor and ly agree together." "No Church act can 

teacher, to pray with the congregation be consummated without consent of 

and expound the Scriptures." Trumbull, both." 



64 



ASSISTANT PASTOE. 



they can afford it." The building was to be of very 
humble dimensions, 36 feet in length, 26 in breadth, 
and 13 feet between the joints, " with a lenter to it all 
the length, which will make it 36 feet square." * By 
the 12th of March following, the timber was cut and 
hewn and the frame of the house ready to be raised ; 
and Thomas Luddington and Thomas Johnson were 
contracted with, for five pounds, to accomplish that 
part of the work, with the town's help. Then a supply 
of nails must be provided " for the closing in of the 
meeting house," and this they determined to do by 
joint contributions, each man being required to say 
how many he would undertake to furnish. The whole 
business was now put into the hands of the " towns- 
men ;" but it was not till more than a year and a half 
later, that the house was ready to receive a permanent 
floor, and even then it seems to have been but partially 
completed.f 

Meanwhile, the venerable pastor was becoming ad- 
vanced in years, and his eldest son, a young man of 
great promise, having finished his studies in College, 

* That every one may form his own and be sure of the punctuation in this ex- 
notion of the shape of this primitive edi-' tract, it might be easy to describe the 
fice, I transcribe the following from the form of the house very exactly. As it is, 
Town Record: "Item. The town hath much must be left to conjecture, p. 10. 
bargained with Deacon Ward, Sergeant f The flooring was to be done in a very 
Richard Harrison and Sergeant Edward substantial manner. "The town agreed 
Riggs, for the sum of seventeen pounds, to with Thomas Johnson about his flooring 
build the same meeting house according half the meeting house for four pounds ; 
to the dimensions agreed upon, (i. e. those of good chestnut or oak, of two inches and 
already stated,) with a lenter to it all the a-half plank, and they are to find and do 
length, which will make it thirty-six foot all, to edge and lay down the floor on 
square with the doors and windows and seven good sleepers ; and in like manner 
flue boards on the gable ends." Could they have bargained with John Brown, 
we ascertain the precise angle of the roof, Mr. Burwell, John Baldwin and Joseph 
determine what are meant by flue boards, Riggs, to do the other half." Records, 

p. 32. 



ASSISTANT PASTOR 



65 



and begun to preach, had been solicited unanimously 
by the people of Woodbridge to become their minis- 
ter.'* Unwilling to lose the services of so desirable an 
assistant, the town, immediately upon this, " by their 
unanimous vote declared their freeness to desire and 
call Mr. Abraham Pierson, junior, to be helpful to his 
father, in the exercise of his gifts in the ministry, for 
the space of a year ;" and, for his encouragement, al- 
lowed him for the year the sum of thirty pounds. 
This was done on the 28th of July, 1669 ; and the re- 
sult was, that the proposals from Woodbridge were 
not accepted, and Mr. Pierson continued to assist his 
father, on the terms specified, a little more than two 
years. On the 14th of November, 1671, ten pounds 
were added to his salary and lands allotted to him " on 
condition that he settles and abides with us a consider- 
able time, carrying on the work of the ministry." But 

* By the favor of Wm. A. Whitehead, forded by the constable, John Smith. The 

Esq., author of the ''History of New Jersey application to Mr. Pierson was not, how- 

under the Proprietors," I am permitted to ever, favorably considered by him. The 

insert the following extract from " Contri- advanced age of his father, who was the 

butions to the Early History of Perth Am- pastor of the Newark congregation, ren- 

boy and the Surrounding Country," yet in dered the services of an assistant neces- 

manuscript, referring to Mr. Pierson : sary, and measures were in progress to 

" The first movement towards obtaining secure the son in that capacity. The ap- 
the services of a clergyman [in Wood- plication from Woodbridge probably 
bridge] was on the 8th June, 1669, when brought the matter to a conclusion, as the 
a Committee was appointed to go to New- ensuing month Mr. Pierson was regularly 
ark, as messengers from the town, to de- employed as an assistant minister." 
clare to Mr. Pierson, junior, that the in- The settlement at Woodbridge was one 
habitants were all willing and desirous of the very oldest, and should have been 
that he would be pleased to come up to mentioned on p. 22, in connection with 
them and help them in the work of the other towns of nearly the same date. Men 
ministry ; and anticipating an acceptance, from Newbury, Mass., purchased the tract 
Robert Dennis was appointed to enter- on the 11th of December, 1666, (See Bill 
tain him with "meat, drink and lodging," in Chancery, p. 121. Answer to Bill in 
and when on the west side of the Creek — Chancery, p. 37,) and gave it the name of 
called in the records Papiack Creek — their junior minister, Rev. John Wood- 
similar accommodations were to be af- bridge, a lineal ancestor of the writer of 

this narrative. 



66 



PASTOE AND TEACHEK. 



by this time the work had come to devolve chiefly upon 
the junior minister, and it was thought desirable that 
his relations to the people should be more close and 
permanent. Accordingly, a vote was passed in the 
town meeting, on the 4th of March, 1672, "that the 
Church should call Mr. Abraham Pierson, junior, to be 
joined with his father, in time convenient for the or- 
derly effecting it ; and they have agreed," it is said, 
" upon his taking office, he shall have and enjoy his 
accommodations granted him," that is, his lands, &c, 
" upon the same tenor and terms that other men in our 
town generally hold the same."* And so, " upon good 
experience of him," testifies one of his parishioners, 
" he was called and ordained to be our teacher."f 

During the space of seven years, the town main- 
tained two ministers at an annual expense of one hun- 
dred and twenty pounds, with the exception of one 
year, in which, in consideration of hard times and 
many expenses, the ministers agreed to remit twenty 
pounds, and accept jointly the sum of one hundred. J 

* We find it recorded under date of Jan- kneading trough, and two joint stools, for- 

1, 1671-2, that " Mr. Pierson hath the con- merly belonging to the said Lawrence 

sent of the town given him to buy the Ward, deceased." Query. Is this the 

house, or any part of the lot, that belongs chair now preserved as a curious relic, in 

to Elizabeth Ward."— Rec, p. 41. Turn- Yale College, and called Rector Pierson's 

ing to the Town Book of Surveys, Deeds, chair? 

&c, we find John Catlin and John Ward, f Obadiah Bruen. (See Memoirs of 
turner, administrators of the estate of Matthias Bruen, p. 12.) Primitive Con- 
the late Deacon Lawrence Ward, convey- gregationalism made provision for two 
ing to "Abraham Pierson, Jr., Clericus," ministers in each considerable Church — 
"with consent of Elizabeth Ward, relict pastor and teacher — with distinct offices, 
of Deacon L. Ward, the dwelling-house, Here the father seems to have been the 
well, yard, barn, garden and orchard, pastor, and the son the teacher, 
with one acre and three roods of land, % It is doubtful whether the reduction 
contained by and adjacent to the same, here agreed upon ever took place, as the 
according to a bill of sale beaiing date, town voted the next year that " the vote 
Eeb. 1, 1671-2, as also one great wain- made Feb. 6, 1676, concerning the minis- 
scot chair, one chest, two hogsheads, one ters, shall be now void and of none effect." 



DEATH OF ABRAHAM PIERSON, SENIOR. 67 

On the ninth day of August, 1678, the venerable 
Abraham Pierson, senior, departed this life. He had 
been emphatically a pilgrim, having no fixed abode 
during most of his earthly life. Where he was born, 
who were his parents, what was his early education, 
when and in what circumstances he first gave his 
heart to the Saviour, when and precisely where he was 
set apart to the sacred office and began to preach the 
everlasting Gospel, we are not informed. Precisely in 
what spot his honored bones rest, no record tells us, 
and no stone points out. But his life, full of piety to 
God and service to his fellow men, has left behind it 
precious memorials. As early as the 10th of August, 
1671, he made preparation for his departure, by dis- 
posing of worldly affairs, " being firmly persuaded," as 
he said, " of the everlasting welfare of my soul's estate ; 
and my body's resurrection to eternal life by Jesus 
Christ, my dear and precious Redeemer." His will 
breathes throughout, the spirit of domestic affection 
and fervent piety. Nor can we doubt that when the 
last hour came, it found him still resting peacefully in 
the same confidence. " He left behind him," says Cot- 
ton Mather, "the character of a pious and prudent 
man — a true child of Abraham — and now safely 
lodged in Abraham's bosom."* His name deserves to 

(Town Records, p. 66.) The occasion of pant, Capt. Sanford, was confiscated and 

it seems to have been a severe loss, to sold during the continuance of the Dutch 

which the people had just before been power, and afterwards restored by the 

subjected, by purchasing from the Dutch Proprietary government, without remu- 

authorities during the time of their sway, neration to the purchasers. See Town 

the tract of land lying between the Records. 

Passaic and Hackensack, called Barbadoes * Magnalia, B. hi., ch. 8, " In sinu Abra- 

neck. This tract, for which they had hae," is the writer's own language. He 

been before in negociation with the occu- adds the following " Epitaphium : Terris 



68 



ABEAHAM PIERSON, JUNIOR. 



be kept fragrant, and surely it will be as long as 
Christian piety and holy energy and zeal are held in 
estimation, and the Church, of which he was the first 
pastor, knows how to value her brightest ornaments* 

About seven weeks after this event, the town met 
and made arrangements for the permanent support of 
their now sole pastor. The agreement was made with 
great unanimity — "every planter being called upon 
by name ; w and the salary, being fixed at eighty pounds 
a year, with a supply of firewood, and freedom from 
taxation, appears not to have been altered during the 
remainder of Mr. Pierson 's ministry. 

Abraham Pierson, junior, the second pastor of this 
Church, was born in Lynn, Mass.,f in 1641, graduated 
at Harvard College in 1668, and was called to be as- 
sistant minister here on the 28th of July, 1669. His 
term of service was a long one, amounting in all to 
about twenty-three years ; nearly three years as assist- 

discessit suspirans gaudia coeli. Patriam Thomas Pierson, Jr. There was an Abra- 
Piersonus scandit ad astra suam." ham Pierson living on the allotment of 
* Mr. Pierson married a daughter of Thomas, junior, who died in 1756, at 80 
Rev. John Wheelwright, of Exeter, N. H., years of age, and was probably his son. 
(see Thompson's Hist. L. I., vol. 1, p. 337,) Thomas Pierson, senior, was probably a 
who was a brother of the famous Ann near relative. He was married to Mary 
Hutchinson. They had four sons— Abra- Harrison, daughter of Richard Harrison, 
ham, Thomas, Theophilus and Isaac — of at the same time and place with Abigail 
whom the last two were to have each "one Pierson and Mr. Davenport. His name 
half of the homestead." Four daughters appears among the original subscribers, 
are mentioned in his will, and one had and from an old deed in the Town Book 
probably died before him. They were Abi- as well as from the Records, we learn that 
gail, married Nov. 27, 1662, at Branford, to he was a weaver by trade. (See Town 
a son of Rev. John Davenport, and whom Book, p. 8.) His will was made in 1698, 
he calls " my choice and precious daughter and proved in 1702. His sons were Sam- 
Davenport ;" Grace, married to Samuel, uel and Thomas. Samuel was admitted a 
son of Robert Kitchel ; Mary, who is men- planter in January, 1686-7, on condition 
tioned in the will by that name ; and Su- of " submitting to all wholesome town 
sanna and Rebecca, whose names are to orders." (Town Records, p. 109.) 
be found in the Branford Town Records. t Thompson's Hist. Long Island, p. 337, 
Thomas was called, by way of distinction, 



ABRAHAM PIEKSON, JUNIOR. 



69 



ant to his father, six and a half as his father's col- 
league, and a little less than fourteen as the sole pas- 
tor. He was a regularly installed pastor of this Church 
about twenty years. During the most of this period, 
both before and after his father's death, great harmony 
and affection seem to have marked the intercourse of 
the minister and people. The annual appropriations 
for his support were made without dispute, in the 
same way as for other expenses of the town, and the 
people spoke of him as following in the steps of his 
honored father in godliness, and congratulated them- 
selves, that though God had embittered their comforts 
by taking their elder shepherd to Himself, He had not 
left them destitute of spiritual enjoyments, but had 
given them a faithful dispenser of the word of God — 
" a young Timothy," a man after God's own heart, well 
rooted and grounded in the faith, and one "with 
whom they could comfortably walk in the doctrines of 
the faith."* 

* Town Records. Life of M. Bruen, p. God's own heart, well rooted and ground- 

12. The following letter, written by ed in the faith, one with whom we can 

Obadiah Bruen to his children deserves comfortably walk in the doctrines of the 

notice, both as giving some facts relating faith. Praise to our God. 

to the history of the Church, and as illus- " Upon good experience of him, he was 

trating the character of the writer, who called and ordained to be our teacher, Mr. 

was one of its most honored founders. Abraham Pierson, who follows in the steps 

. _ ' of his ancient father in godliness. Praise 

" Dear and loving Son and Daughter — tQ Qur 

" Hoping of your health, with yours, as "Loving son, I would entreat you when 

we are at present Praise to our God. your own occasion serves going to New 

" It hath pleased God hitherto to con- London, that you would make some in- 

tinue our lives and liberties, though it hath quiry for me about some land I have in 

pleased him to embitter our comforts by the General Neck, thirteen acres, and six 

taking to himself our reverend pastor, acres in two parcels, both lying near to 

Aug. the 7th, 1678, Mr. Pierson. Goodman Rogers, his farm. I am inform- 

" Yet hath he not left us destitute ed Goodman Rogers his sons have made 

of spiritual enjoyments, but hath giv- improvement of it before I heard any 

en us a faithful dispenser of the Word thing of it, being far off. I know not 

of God — a young Timothy — a man after what course to take in it ; it is an incivil 



70 



GLANCE AT THE CONGREGATION. 



Let us now cast a glance upon the little assembly, 
as they were when the appurtenances of the house of 
worship were completed, and the settlement in the full 
tide of its youthful prosperity. We will select for the 
purpose the year 1682, and take some bright Sabbath 
morning early in June, when the strawberries are red 
among the green grass, the birds singing in the mead- 
ows in a full chorus, and the apple blossoms scarcely 
yet fallen in the orchards, for which Newark had even 
then become noted. On the west side of Broad street, 
then as now the principal avenue through the town, 
and nearly opposite the site of the present First Pres- 
byterian Church, with an irregular marshy pond ex- 
tending nearly to Market street on the north-west, and 
a few graves marking a small burying-place on a little 
eminence not far in the rear,* stood a low and somewhat 

part, and an ill precedent ; yet for peace " Will you remember our respects to 

and quietness's sake, if he will purchase Mr. and Mrs. Fitch, and love to all Chris- 

both parcels I adhere thereunto. I esti- tian friends, as your opportunity will -per- 

mate both parcels at ten pounds. When mit. So praying for you, that your spir- 

you know which of his sons it is, I pray itual and temporal comforts may be con- 

you know of him how long he hath im- tinued to you and yours, I rest 

proved it, and why he would deal so un- "Tour loving father, 

worthily, to make discord among friends. " Obadiah Bruen, 

Know of him what he intends to do, and " and mother, 

whether he means to hold it in such an " Sarah Bruen." 

unrighteous way, or come to some com- "Extracted out of the original, under 

position. When I hear from you, and Mr. Bruen's handwriting, "per Ebenezer 

understand the state of things rightly, I Hile, Recorder, July 2, 1681." 

will accordingly apply myself to make N. B. The above is taken from the Life 

some issue. of Rev. Matthias Bruen, and is said to 

"It would much rejoice us to see you have been copied fr@m the Records of 

face to face, but Providence otherwise dis- New London, Conn. It is a full length 

posing, I desire to hear from you as often portrait of the Newark Puritans, or rather 

as opportunity will permit, Your brother, a daguerreotype likeness. Very kind 

John Bruen, and his wife, desire remem. loving people, as worthy Peter Watson 

brance of their dear love to you, also your declared, yet not unmindful of their tem- 

sister Hannah and her husband desire the poral rights. 

same. All in health, praise to our God, * The following description of the 

with their children. Our dear love to you ground on which the Church stood, is given 

both. by Dr. Macwhorter in his manuscript 



FIRST MEETING HOUSE. 



11 



singular looking wooden edifice, without chimney or 
cupola, spreading out to the breadth of thirty-six feet 
square on the ground, and at most sixteen feet high in 
front beneath the eaves, and somewhat less in the rear ; 
the roof sloping down the back side near to the 
ground, and covering an appendage called a " lenter" 
or lean-to, ten feet wide, after the manner of some of 
the old farm houses, of which remnants may still be 
found in the country. There it stood, with the gable 
ends north and south, and the broad-side " nigh front- 
ing on a square with the street," in the precise spot 
which Mr. Pierson the elder, Deacon Ward and Mr. 
Treat had assigned for it. It is our first meeting 
house* — the place of worship and the place of busi- 
ness — the theatre of all important transactions, civil, 
military and religious, in the town of Newark, during 
the first forty years of its existence. There the towns- 
men " after lecture"f held their regular stated meetings, 

history: " Behind it," that is, the Church, burying place, for what reasons not 

" and between that and the hollow or now known, though a number of the first 

swamp, upon the brow of the hill, was dead were buried there. This knoll is not 

the old or first training ground. Beyond now so much as claimed by the Church, 

the hollow or swamp was the burying though the swamp or pond, which divides 

place, on a rising knoll or tongue of land, it from the next knoll, eastward, is." 

which divided this from a greater swamp * The old Puritanical word " meeting- 

or pond, westward of which the land rose house," is an almost literal translation 

into another hill, then presently sunk into into plain Saxon English of the word 

a flat and brook, called "the watering "synagogue" — the source from which the 

place." This last hill was the original Christian Church derived the model of its 

burying ground; but long since, more worship. It was preferred to the word 

than one hundred years ago, it, some way, " Church," because the latter had been ap- 

became private property, has been occu- propriated in our English Bible to desig- 

pied and cultivated as such, and not a nate the body of Christian people, whether 

trace of a cemetery there remains." general or local. 

Again, he speaks of the same ground as f It is recorded, Jan. 1, 1676-7, that 

"poor land, chiefly swamp, comprehend- "John Baldwin, junior, Thomas Pierson, 

ing three small knolls of high and dry junior, Thomas Pierson, senior, John Cat- 

Jand fit for a cemetery. The western knoll lin, William Camp, Azariah Crane and 

of the three was early relinquished as a George Day are chosen townsmen for the 



12 



FOETIFIED SANCTTTAKY. 



and there, on any alarm, the lbrave soldiers of the little 
community assembled with their arms at beat of 
drum,* to defend their homes and altars, their little 
ones and their wives. And now we notice two rndely 
constructed appendages, at two corners of the sacred 
edifice. They are called, in military phrase, "flankers" 
made with palisades, or sharpened stakes, driven near 
together in the ground, and so placed, that the sol- 
diers sheltered behind them, may command the sides 
of the house in every direction. They were construct- 
ed in the year 16 75, when Philip's war was raging in 
New England, and the terror of Indian butcheries, so 
appalling to the people of Massachusetts, Ehode Island 
and Connecticut, could hardly fail to have communi- 
cated an alarm to their friends and relatives, even in 
this distant settlement. The house itself, as we shall 
see on entering it, has been fitted for defence ; for at 
the same period the town gave orders to have it lathed 
and the walls " filled up with thin stone and mortar 
as high as the girts" — a work on which all the men 
of the town above sixteen years of age, in companies 
of twelve, each day, wrought in their turns, carrying 
their arms with them as did the Israelites when they 
re-built their temple, to be ready against sudden sur- 

year ensuing. These townsmen are ap- date of March 22, 1679-80, we find the 

pointed to meet every lecture day in theaf- following : " It is agreed that the drum 

ternoon," (Newark Town Records, p. 63.) being begun to be beaten at Joseph Riggs's 

Accordingly we find a record commencing gate, and so all the way up the street as 

thus : " After lecture the 1st of May, 1678, far as Sergeant Harrison's gate ; and at the 

it was thought meet to send two letters to ceasing of the beating of the drum, three 

Holland, one to Anthony Colve, and the guns being distinctly fired off ; it shall be 

other to the Court of Admiralty," &c. sufficient warning for all such as are in the 

Do., p. 69. military list forthwith to meet at the nieet- 

i * Newark Town Records, p. 78. Under ing house in their arms." 



SABBATH MOKNINGS. 



73 



prises.* The House of God was thus the house of re- 
fuge for the people ; and there, had the savage foe 
burst upon them, would the women and children of the 
town have assembled for protection, close by God's 
holy altar. Smile not, if I apply, even to this rude and 
lowly edifice, words used with reference to a more am- 
ple and costly sanctuary. " Walt about Zion, and go 
round about her ; mark ye well her bulwarks ; con- 
sider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation 
following." Though without either towers or palaces, 
not Zion itself was more sacred. 

The holy morning has now dawned. Nearly oppo- 
site the Church, stands the residence of the late senior 
pastor, now occupied, we may presume, by his aged 
widow, with her two younger sons, Theophilusf and 
Isaac, already grown to man's estate, who, having been 
carefully taught, according to their father's direction, 
" to read the English tongue and write a legible hand," 
are employing diligently the sacred hours in studying 
the " new English Bible," or perusing " the good Eng- 
lish book out of his library," " such as they by the 

* Newark Town Records, p. 57. " Town the women, children, provision and ammu- 

meeting, Aug. 28, 1675. — It is agreed that nition, in case of imminent danger by the 

the meeting-house shall be lathed and Indians. Mr. Whitehead observes, p. 78, 

filled up with thin stone and mortar be- "It is doubtful if these were generally, if 

tween the girts, and the charge hereof at all, provided." The people of Newark 

shall be levied as the town shall agree. however responded at once by their action* 

" Item — It is also agreed for the better to this as to all other laws of the Prov- 
security of the town, all the men above 16 ince. The law was passed in November, 
years of age, shall from day to day as their At a meeting eaily the next January, 
turns come, attend this work about the " Capt. Swaine, Sergeant Johnson and Ser- 
meeting-house till it be finished, and bring geant Harrison, are chosen by vote to 
their arms with them. Twelve men are join with the commissioned officers to con- 
appointed to appear in a day." sider about and contrive for the fortifica- 

The General Assembly, in the year 1675, tions belonging to our town." (Rec. p. 59.) 
ordered fortifications to be provided in eve- f Theophilus was born March 15, 1659, 

ry town, and a house therein for securing and of course was now 23 years of age. 



74 



ASSEMBLING FOE WORSHIP. 



advice of their mother" were to choose, as a special 
legacy to them from that same venerable saint.* 

All along up and down the street, stand, on either 
side, at regular intervals, the quiet homes of the plant- 
ers, and everywhere through the open windows, may 
be heard the voice of prayer and psalm-singing at the 
domestic altar, or the low hum of youthful voices 
studying or reciting the much prized catechism. 

The hour of public worship now approaches, and 
the deep tones of the village drum, beaten along the 
the broad grassy street by one of the young men, gives 
the signal to make ready.f It beats again ; and now, 
the doors opening, out come in every direction the 
grave fathers and mothers of the community, the stur- 
dy sons and comely daughters, with the cheerful and 
yet sober little ones, all in their best attire, and such 
as never sees the light except on Sabbath days, and 
for the sake of decency in God's worship. Down 
through the cross streets, and some on horseback from 
the far distant Mountain, J where the settlement was 
already extending itself, they pour along in pleasant 
family groups, and meet a united community at the 
house of prayer. 

Let us enter with them the sacred enclosure. Di- 

* Abraham Pierson, senior's, will. nier as before, upon condition that he beats 

t The custom of calling the worship- the first drum at least as far up as the saw 

pers together on the Lord's day with a pit in the corner of Sergeant Harrison's 

drum was so common among the early lot." (Newark Town Records, p. 32.) 

settlers of New England, that there can % "Town meeting, December 12, 1681. 

be little doubt that such was the practice It is voted that there shall be surveyors 

here. The drummer seems to have risen chosen to lay out highways as far as the 

to the dignity of a town officer, for we mountain if need be," &c. (Newark Town 

read, under date of January 2, 1670, that Records, p. 89.) 
"the town chose Joseph Johnson for drum- 



CONGEEGATIOISr SEATED. 



75 



rectly opposite the street door stands the simple pulpit, 
under the sloping roof of the low " lenter." * There 
are no pews claimed as private property by families or 
individuals, but seats ranged through the middle, and 
along the sides of the house, and every man, woman 
and child take the seats specially assigned to them by 
the town's Committee, appointed for that purpose. f 
We can hardly suppose there would be no inward 
heart-burnings among these staid Puritans in regard to 
the post of honor or obscurity which each person must 
occupy. But the Committee are good and true men, 
and, according to their best judgment, they have per- 
formed the delicate task set them, and arranged the 
whole congregation " according to office, age, estate, in- 
firmity, and descent or parentage." J In a seat below 
the pulpit, facing the congregation, sit the two worthy 
officers of the Church, Deacon Michael Tompkins and 
Deacon Richard Lawrence ; for their venerable prede- 

* I think there is little doubt that this "Feb. 19.— Item.-— The town doth em- 

was the arrangement of the pulpit. The power the committee already chosen to 

Eev. Mr. Sewall, of Burlington, Mass., in- carry on the seating the meeting house 

forms me that he remembers an ancient with as good prudence as they can." (p. 

house of worship in his native town of 74.) "July, 1680. It is agreed that the 

Marblehead, Mass., corresponding to that middle part of the meeting house, which 

above described, and that the pulpit was is yet to be seated, shall have three seats 

arranged under the roof of the lean-to. of a side." (p. 80.) 

t The Town Records contain the fol- t " Town meeting, Feb. 18, 1679-80. 

lowing notices of the process of preparing Concerning seating persons in the meeting 

this portion of Sabbath conveniences, house, it was agreed that persons should 

" Town meeting, Feb. 12, 1678-9. Item, be placed according to office, age, estate, 

It is agreed that the meeting house shall infirmity, and descent or parentage. By 

be seated in convenient time for our con- estate is meant that estate as persons pur- 

venience in meeting together for God's chased and took up land by, together with 

worship." "Item. — The townsmen, Thorn- the present estate, comparing all these to- 

as Luddington, Captain Swaine and gether. Mr. Ward, Mr. Johnson, Deacon 

John Brown, junior, are chosen to con- Tompkins, Richard Harrison, Stephen 

trive for the most decent and convenient Davis, Thomas Huntington and John 

way (as they think) to seat it ; also, as Brown, jr., are chosen a committee to this 

near as they can, report what it will cost." work." (Newark Town Records, pp. 77, 

pp. 71-2. * 78.) 



76 



SUPPEESSION OF DISOKDEK. 



cessor, Deacon Ward, has been sleeping quietly now 
these ten years in the little church-yard, where his old 
pastor rests beside him, waiting for the glorious morn- 
ing of the Resurrection. 

The front seats are filled " as far as practicable with 
men and women ;" for the youth and children must 
not occupy the preferred places * The young people 
of the congregation are ranged behind ; and since, 
being separated from their parents and by their posi- 
tion somewhat out of the reach of admonishing looks, 
they are inclined sometimes to forget the sanctity of 
the place, and u misbehave themselves in the time of 
worship, by whispering, sleeping and the like," a special 
officer appointed by the town — Azariah Crane, some 
time after Deacon Azariah Crane,f is the man for this 
half year — has them in charge, with powers extending 
likewise to any of larger growth who may be disposed 
to offend, a to see that they do carry themselves rev- 
erently" both in and about the House of God in the 
time of worship 4 

* " Town meeting, February the 24th, the Church of Christ in Newark aforesaid, 

1681-2. Item. — It was agreed that the my silver bowl, to be used for the service 

foremost seats in^the meeting house shall of God forever, in the town of Newark 

be occupied with men and women so far aforesaid." He had sons — Nathaniel, Aza- 

forth as conveniency will admit." (Town riah, John and Robert. — S. H. Gongwr. 

Records, p. 91.) For a time he seems to have resided on 

t Azariah Crane, son of Jasper Crane, his out-lands at " the mountain." 

senior, was probably elected to the office % Newark Town Records. Under date 

of Deacon, on the decease of Deacon of Nov. 24, 1679, we find the following: 

Tompkins or Deacon Lawrence, about the "Item — There being complaint that many, 

year 1690 or '91. He married Mary, as are grown persons, as well as boys, do 

daughter of Robert Treat, and resided on misbehave themselves on the Lord's day, 

the home-lot of his father-in-law, on the in the time of public service, both in the 

south-east corner of Market and Broad meeting house and without by the house 

streets. He is supposed to have been the sides, also by sleeping, whispering and 

last survivor of the original subscribers of the like ; wherefore the town hath chosen 

the Fundamental Agreements. He died Thomas Pierson, jr., and Samuel Potter to 

in 1730, aged 83. In his will, he gave " to use their best care and endeavor to restrain 

ft 



WORSHIPPERS ARMED. 77 

The men are armed; for the town voted, only a 
short time before, that a watch should be kept in the 
night and a ward on Sabbath days ; and gave direc- 
tions, not as on other occasions, that " one-fourth of the 
town shall carry arms to meeting on the Lord's day," 
but that " every soldier do bring his arms every day 
of public worship, well fixed, and also his ammuni- 
tion." Two warders and one sentry stand to guard 
against surprises ; and the chief military officers, Cap- 
tain Samuel Swaine* and Lieutenant John Curtis, have 
the charge of the whole matter. 

In the pulpit stands the reverend divine, with 
whose name and history hitherto you are already fa- 
miliar. In his person he is somewhat taller than the 
middle stature, " a fleshy, well-favored and comely 
looking man,"f and now arrived at the mature age of 
thirty-seven years. You perceive in him one of the 
best specimens of the first growth of the American 
Colonies ; born in the country, educated at its own 
University, and destined to perform an important part 
in its literary and religious history. What were the 
words of truth he then uttered, what the psalms they 
sang, and what the prayers they offered, is now known 
only to the Omniscient. The sweet odor of their sim- 
ple worship has gone up as incense to the throne of 

like disorder in time of public worship, * Capt. Swaine must have had vivid 

by rebuking such persons as behave them- impressions of Indian atrocity— his own 

selves irreverently, within or without the sister having been seized and carried off 

the house ; and if they are such grown by a fierce Pequot chief, at Weathersfield, 

persons as will not be restrained by their many years before- (See Trumbull's Hist, 

rebukes, then they are to present them to Conn., vol. 1, p. 115.) 

the authority." p. 76. + Letter to President Stiles. 



?8 



PECULIAE PEIVILEGES. 



Jehovah, and the instructions given left their traces 
only on the hearts of the listeners. 

Highly favored of the Lord seemed this little assem- 
bly of devout worshippers. In all this region, God 
had not dealt so with any people. There were a few 
Christian congregations in the neighboring settlements, 
indeed in every town occupied by New England emi- 
grants " there was a meeting-house where they wor- 
shipped publicly every week," and one or two of these 
had had ministers, but they were dead ; and now, as 
to their praise it is declared by a contemporary, 
"the people meet together every Sabbath day, and 
read, and pray, and sing psalms in their meeting- 
houses." But more than one contemporary bears wit- 
ness, that not a settled preacher is to be found in all 
East Jersey who follows no other employment, save in 
one town, Newark.* They love the Sabbath, they 
love the sanctuary, they well appreciate, and regard 
with honor and affection, their learned, pious, and 
truly excellent mimister. And though, in coming to 
this new settlement, and planting here, in a wilderness 

* This was said in 1684, but was equally one town — Newark." Peter Watson, wri- 

true two years earlier. A joint letter of ting to his brother John, in August of the 

David Barclay, Arthur Forbes and Gawen same year, says : " There are here very 

Laurie, written to the Proprietors in Scot- good religious people ; they go under the 

land, March, 1684, says : " There be peo- name of Independents, but are most like 

pie of several sorts of religion ; few very to the Presbyterians, only they will not 

zealous. The people being mostly New receive every one to their society. We 

England men, do mostly incline to their have great need of good and faithful min- 

way ; and in every town there is a meeting isters, and I wish to God there would 

house where they worship publicly every come some over here ; they can live as well 

week. They have no public law in the and have as much as in Scotland, and 

country for maintaining public teachers, more than many get. We have none 

but the towns that have them make way within all the Province of East Jersey, 

within themselves to maintain them. We except one who is preacher in Newark." 

know none that hath a settled preacher ("Model of the Government," see White- 

that follows no other employment, save head, pp. 291, 302.) 



DEATH OF FIRST SETTLERS. 



tenanted hitherto only with savages and wild beasts,* 
the institutions of religion, they have been required to 
make many sacrifices, and still, as their garrisoned 
Church testifies, are subjected to some troubles and 
fears, their blessings far outweigh all their disadvan- 
tages, and praise to the Giver of all good, forms a large 
part, both of their public and their private devotions. 

But I must hasten to the close of this bright portion 
of our early history. The ministry of the two Pier- 
sons extended over just a quarter of a century, and all 
the while time was working its gradual changes. A 
few names of considerable note were early added to 
the original settlers,f while some who appeared at first 
among the number went back soon, or removed to 
other settlements,! Meanwhile, death had been clos- 
ing up the earthly account of the revered fathers of 



* Wolves and bears must have caused 
no little trouble to the settlers, especially 
the former, if we may judge from the ef- 
forts made to destroy them. One of the 
earliest town acts was the offer of a bounty 
for the killing of wolves. From fifteen to 
twenty shillings was the reward for a 
grown wolf, and five shillings for a bear 
cub. There were laws to the same effect 
made by the General Assembly. But as 
to the town's bounty, the savage beast 
must be caught and killed within the 
town's bounds, or else no pay was to be 
received for either wolf or bear. Sergeant 
Kiggs seems to have exercised his martial 
prowess in this direction, and had a " wolf 
pit" somewhere within the bounds of the 
settlement. (Town Records, pp. 5, 76, 91, 
103.) James Johnstone, a Scotchman, 
writing to his friends at home, says the 
wolves " are nothing to be feared, neither 
are the country people afraid to be among 
them all night, in so much that I ofttimes 
going wrong and lying out all night, and 



hearing their yells about me, and telling 
that I was afraid of them, the country peo- 
ple laughed at it. 7 ' The snakes, too, the 
worthy Scotchman thought but a mere 
circumstance ; for, he continues, "nothing 
can come near them but they give warn- 
ing with the rattling of their tails, so that 
people may either kill them or go by them 
as they please." ("The Model of the 
Government," see Whitehead, p. 298.) 

t Among the early additions to the set- 
tlement were Robert Bond, who came from 
Elizabethtown probably in 1673, John 
Morris, Bartholomew Goodrich, David 
Ogden, who came from Elizabethtown 
about 1677, John Gardner, Richard Fletch- 
er, Matthew Williams, John Brown, jr., 
Anthony Oleff or Olive, John Mackleson, 
John Cockburn, Samuel Potter, Patrick 
Falconer (merchant), John Wilkins, John 
Couch, Zophar Beach, (tailor), John Con- 
dit. 

% Among those whose names are men- 
tioned as if intending to become settlers, 



80 



DEATH OF FIRST SETTLEES. 



the community. When Robert Treat returned to 
Connecticut in the year 1672, Deacon Ward, Sergeant 
Riggs,* Robert Kitchel, and Hugh Roberts, were al- 
ready among the dead. Matthew Camfield, and prob- 
ably Delivered Crane, departed this life during the 
year following; Stephen Freeman died in 1675 ; John 
Harrison, son of Sergeant Richard, in 1676, and Josiah 
Ward in or before 1677. All these preceded their 
aged senior pastor, and were, perhaps, attended by him 
to the grave. Jasper Crane, Sen., Martin Tichenor, 
George Day, Samuel Swaine, and Obadiah Bruen fin- 
ished their course, it is supposed, about the year 1681. 
Sergeant Richard Harrison, John Ward Turner, Thom- 
as Huntington, and John Rogers, about the years 
1683 and '84. Joseph Walters died in 1688, and Jo- 
seph Riggs in 1689. John Brown, senior,. John Bald- 
win, junior, Stephen Davis, Samuel Kitchel,f Michael 
Tompkins, and Richard Lawrence, were among the 
harvest which death reaped in the years 1690 and '91. 
Patrick Falconer, a near neighbor and special friend 
of the second Abraham Pierson, fell in the prime of 

but who either never came, or went back they at one time had in mind to establish 
very soon, are Mr. Leet, Mr. Thomas Mor- on the basis of the Hopkins fund ?) 
ris, Mr. Webster, Thomas and Aaron * Edward Riggs, Sen., or Sergeant Ed- 
Blatchley, John Bostwick, Eleazar Rogers, ward, died previous to January, 1670-71, 
John Rockwell, Robert Lyman, Azariah when his second division of land was laid 
Beech, John Gregory, John Brooks, out to his widow. Town Records, p. 35. 
Thomas Harrison, Joseph Horton, and Edward and Joseph were his sons. 
Goodman Cole. John Catlin sold his land + Samuel Kitchel died April 26th, 1690. 
to Henry Lyon, about 1682. John Rogers, His children named in the will are, Sam- 
senior, died in Milford, 1683 or '84. Jere- uel the eldest son, to whom he gave a dou- 
miah Peck sold his lands to Mr. Wilson in ble portion, Elizabeth, wife of Seth Tomp- 
1674, and removed to Elizabethtown. kins, Abigal wife of John Ward, son of 
(Query— Was this the Jeremiah Peck of Sergeant John; Mary, wife of a Josiah 
whom Trumbull speaks, vol. 1, p. 292, as Ward ; Susanna, wife of Jonathan Bald- 
having been selected by the people of New win, and Abraham, who seems to have 
Haven for the teacher of the College which been a minor, afterwards Deacon Abraham 

Kitchel of Whippany. 



DEATH OF FIRST SETTLERS. 



81 



life, in the year 1692,* a few months only before the 
close of this period. John Ward^nior, Thomas John- 
son^ Ephraim Pennington, Thomas Lyon, Ebenezer 
Camfield, John Brown, junior, John Crane, and Ste- 
phen Bond, stayed but a little longer, and were all 
gathered to their rest, in and about the year 1694. 
The virgin soil of the old burying ground, unbroken 
by the hand of the husbandman, was now becoming 
thick sown with the precious seed of the Resurrection ! 

And how died they ? It were hardly to be expected 
we should hear their departing testimony, since the me- 
moir of none of them has been written, except as they 
unconsciously chronicled their own. And yet we have 
a specimen. Sweet is it to learn that so many of these 
noble men died as they had lived, in the same faith 
and holy devotion which had been the spring of their 
worldly prudence and enterprise ; leaving to their pos- 
terity, in the same instruments which conveyed the title 
to their lands and houses, signed and sealed before 
witnesses, with their own hands, the precious legacy of 
their unshaken piety. 

* Patrick Falconer is called a merchant. f The tomb-stone of this most active 

In the old burying-ground there is a stone and useful settler is still standing, and 

with this inscription : " Here lyeth the bears the following inscription : 

body of Patrick Falconer, who died June " Here lyes the body of Mr. Thomas 

27, 1692, aged 33 years. Johnson, who died November the 5, 1694, 

aged 64." 

"Here lyeth the reliques That of his wifej who died three dayg 

Of a real saint, before him, is also standing, and is in- 

Who suffered much for Christ, scribed as follows : 

And did not faint; «Here lyes the body of Mrs. Ellena 

And when his race was run, Johnson, who died November 2, 1694 

Ending his story, aged 61 » 

He sweetly past through death The body of their son Joseph> the drum _ 

To endless glory." mer> who died in m ^ at thg advanced 

(See Monumental Inscriptions by Dr. age of 83, lies not far off. 
John S. Condit.) 



6 



82 



HOLT DYING. 



On the 19th of March, 1672-3, old Matthew Cam- 
field " sick and weak in body," records as his dying act 
of self-devotion, "I give my body to the dust, and 
soul to the Lord Jesus Christ." In early June follow- 
ing, the green turf was already growing over the last 
resting place of this venerable patriarch.* 

Jasper Crane, senior, shrewd, enterprising, ever active 
old Jasper, on the first day of October, 1678, perceiv- 
ing that he had made his last earthly settlement, and 
had but one remove more to be undertaken, thus de- 
clares his determination to address himself to his dying 
duties, " I, Jasper Crane, dwelling within the province 
of New Jersey belonging to the town of Newark — 
being aged in years and weak in body, yet well in un- 
derstanding and memory — I do at this time think it 
my Christian duty to set my house in order, and I do 
dispose of all my worldly goods as followeth." Some 
time between this date and the 28th of October, 1681, 
this veteran pilgrim crossed the river on his way to 
the land of spirits. f 

Samuel Swaine, happening to be in New York, when 
disease seized him, and death seemed to be not far, 
thus testified the readiness of his spirit to answer the 
last summons, "I, Samuel Swaine, being in perfect 

* He died between the date given above, of October the same year, it is probable 

and the 6th of June following. — S. H. Con- that he died not far from the date of the 

gar. inventory. Jasper Crane, Sen., had four 

+ October 28th, 1681, John Ward and sons Delivered, or Deliverance as it is 

Thomas Pierson apprized the inventory sometimes written, Azariah, John, and 

of his estate as presented to them Jasper, Jr., of whom the first three were 

for that purpose by his son, Delivered original subscribers ; and the last became 

Crane, and his son-in-law, Thomas hardly less distinguished than his father 

Huntington. As his name appears in a in the affairs of the church and town, 

list rendered in town meeting, by a com- Delivered Crane died early, and is said to 

mittee previously appointed, on the 19th have left no issue. 



HOLY DYING. 



83 



sense and memory, not knowing how long the Lord 
will continue the same mercy to me, being weak under 
His good hand of Providence, and willing to be at His 
dispose ; therefore, for life or death, do leave this as 
my last will and testament."* 

Next, Richard Lawrence, perceiving that the infirm- 
ities of age were now creeping over him, made his last 
will and testament, Dec. 10th, 1686, acknowledging in 
nearly the same words used by his old friend Crane, 
the summons he had received from heaven, " to set his 
house in order."f Old Michael Tompkins " being" he 
said, " infirm in body, and subject to many changes, 
and not knowing the time of my departure out of the 
world," began on the 30th day of January, 1688-9, to 
get his affairs in readiness. Before the end of March, 
1691, both the good deacons had gone to their long 
home. J 

John Baldwin, junior, § Joseph Biggs, || John Brown^[ 

* Samuel Swaine made his will in New § John Baldwin, Jr.'s, will is dated Decu 
York, the 17th of March, 1681-2. It may 21, 1688, and sworn to Nov. 28, 1689. His 
be presumed perhaps that he died in that children mentioned in the will are, Han- 
illness, as his name appears for the last nah Tichenor, and John, yet under age. 
time on the records, in the Hist made in He mentions William Camp as his uncle. 
1680. His wife Johanna died prior to Dec. The inventory of his estate bears date 
5, 1690. Town Records, p. 87. Town Book, Jan 30, 1688-9. Town Book, p. 14. 
P- 35. || Joseph Riggs's will bears date Jan. 1, 

t Richard Lawrence's will is dated the 1688-9, and was sworn to Nov. 27, 1689. 

10th of December, 1686, and sworn to His children being all minors were left in 

March 30th, 1691. His children mentioned the care of their mother, to whose use for 

in the will are, Bethiah, wife of Stephen herself and them the whole estate was left 

Bond, Mrs. Bruen, wife of John Bruen, and during their minority, except two guns 

Sarah, to whom was left the dwelling and one sword. Their names are John 

house and furniture.— Town Book, p. 10. Samuel, Zophar and Elizabeth. After 

% Michael Tompkins made his will Jan. their mother's decease, John was to have 

30, 1688-9, which was sworn to by his ex- the homestead Samuel and Zophar the 

ecutors, Dec. 4, 1690. He must have died land at the mountain, and Elizabeth what- 

prior to the latter date. His children men- ever her mother should choose to bestow, 

tioned in his will are, Jonathan, Micah, The sword and hunting gun were be- 

Seth, Mary Rose, Abigal Dalglesh, and queathed to John, and the other gun given 

Elizabeth Bishop. (See Town Book, p. to Samuel. Town Book, p. 13. 

If John Browne's will is dated Decern- 



HOLY DYING. 



tm& David Ogden,* all left behind their dying testi- 
mony in nearly the same words. - " First, I bequeath 
my soul unto the hands of Almighty God, hoping for 
rfvation from the riches of His grace, by the alone 
merits of Jesus Christ, and through faith in His blood. 
Also, I commit my body to the earth, decently to be 
Tbmied, and there to rest until the resurrection of the 

Nor was that venerable veteran, Lieut. Ward, or 
John Ward, senior, a soldier, not of his country only, 
"but. of his Heavenly Captain, surprised without his 
armor when the hour came for his last conflict. Nov. 
21st, 1694, he left his dying testimony: " Imprimis. 
I commit my soul immortal unto God who gave it, to 
glorify Him, and to be glorified by Him for ever more. 
I give my body to the dust, of which it was made, to 
be decently and honorably buried, in hope of a better 
resurrection by Jesus Christ, Who shall change this 
vile ? frail, and corruptible body of mine into the like- 
ness of His own glorious body, according to the work- 
ing whereby He is able to subdue all things to Him- 
self, that so I may be ever with the Lord, which is far 
hest of all."f 

Thus calmly, confidently and holily did the patri- 

hev 17, 1689. He died November 5, 1690. Children mentioned are David, the eldest, 

The children named are, eldest son John, Josiah, and Swaine. His wife, Eliz- 

John, Joseph, Thomas, Daniel who was abeth is appointed executrix. Town Book, 

I© have the homestead, Esther, Mary p. 16. 

Plerson, Hannah Biggs, Phebe Dod, and f John Ward, Sen., or Sergeant Ward, 

Elizabeth Freeman. His loving brother, afterwards Lieut. Ward, when in the 

Ephraim Burwell, is one of the appointed year 1672 Lieut. Swaine was promoted to 

©verseers. See Town Book, p. 20. the captaincy, probably died not far from 

* David Ogden's will is dated Dec. 26, Nov. 20, 1694, the date of his will. (Rec- 

1691, and sworn to Feb. 27th, 1691-2. ords at Trenton, copied by Mr. Congar.) 



SACRED GROUND. 



85 



archs of this community pass away from the turmoils 
of the world. Fit epilogue for such a drama as they 
had been enacting ! Fit end for such a life as theirs I 

" So fades a summer's cloud away, 
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er ; 
So gently shuts the eye of day, 
So dies a wave along the shore."— Mrs. Barbauld. 

The wastes of time have not left us the departing 
words of most of the others ; but doubtless what we 
have here is but a sample of the entire community., 
Dear, honored sires ! No costly monument crowns 
the turf where they slumber, and no pretentious pan- 
egyric has applauded their merits. All unconsciously,, 
and only in the records of their ordinary business 
transactions, they wrote from day to day their own 
memoirs, epitaphs and eulogy. Thrice hallowed be 
the spot where their honored dust moulders. Some 
old mortality come yearly and with pious care remove 
the gathering moss from their headstones. Let the 
turf be green, and the choicest foliage wave its shad- 
ows above it. Let it be sacred to piety and filial 
reverence, and no unhallowed foot intrude within its 
enclosure. Let the ground be made the most beauti- 
ful and attractive in our city, as it is the most replete 
with holy memories ; and let the generations, as they 
rise, learn to hold in special honor and affection, the 
old graveyard where the fathers lie waiting for the 
resurrection of the just ! 

But I am perhaps dwelling too long on these pathetic 
memorials. It only remains that I record the closing 
event of this period, the dissolution of the pastoral 



36 



DISMISSION OF THE MINTSTEB. 



relations of the Kev. Abraham Pierson, junior. The 
removal of so many of the first settlers had doubtless 
operated to change in some degree, the public senti- 
ment of the community, and meanwhile a new race 
had sprung up, and new elements from abroad come 
in to modify it still further. But however that may 
be, dissatisfaction arose at length between the people 
and the pastor, out of some differences of views respect- 
ing Church government, the precise nature and merits 
of which cannot now be determined. Mr. Pierson, it 
seems, was not pleased with the strictly Congregational 
plan on which the Church had been settled, but pre- 
ferred a moderate form of Presbyterian government * 



* Dr. Macwhorter says, in his manu- 
script history, that Mr. Pierson, after his 
father's death, "was for introducing more 
rigid Presbyterianism into Newark, in 
which he was encouraged by four men from 
Scotland, who had fled from the persecu- 
tions and troubles there under Charles II. 
Their names were Young, Nesbit, Clisby, 
and Douglass, who for their zeal and piety 
had been admitted by the first settlers to 
great privileges in the town. Meanwhile," 
he adds, "in the progress of the settle- 
ment, many had come to the place from 
Connecticut, with strong habits in favor 
of the Saybrook platform, from whence 
arose an opposition to Mr. Abraham Pier- 
son, and his measures and party, so that 
he finally thought it expedient to leave 
the town, and remove." Several errors 
are to be noticed in this statement. 

In the first place, Presbyterianism 
in New England at that day did not 
stand related to Congregationalism, as 
the more rigid, but as the less rigid 
system. The party who were accused 
of Presbyterian leanings, were those 
who opposed the Puritan plan of restrict- 
ing the privileges of baptism and church 
membership. Such was the case with 
Mr. Stone of Hartford, and Mr. Russel of 



Weathersfield, both of whom led the way in 
calling the Council of 1657, with which the 
New Haven men were so much displeased ; 
while, on the other hand, those who 
strenuously insisted on the restrictions re- 
ferred to, among whom in Connecticut 
were Governor Webster and the other ag- 
grieved brethren of Mr. Stone's church 
pursued their opposition in the name of 
strict and original Congregationalism. It 
is in accordance with this view that we 
find a Scotchman writing to his friends 
from New Perth, in 1664, commending 
the people of East Jersey, as very much 
like the Presbyterians, "only," he says 
"they will not receive every one into 
their society." 

In the next place, those who came from 
Connecticut prior to Mr. Pierson's dismis- 
sion, in 1692, could not have come "with 
strong habits in favor of the Saybrook 
Platform," since that Platform did not 
come into being till 1708, sixteen years 
later; nor, if it had, would those who 
were inclined to favor it, have been op- 
posed to Mr. Pierson's innovations on that 
account, as the Saybrook Platform was 
nearer to his views than the previous 
practice. 

There is, furthermore, some apparent 



CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 



87 



Unquestionably he was not extreme in these prefer- 
ences, as his whole character and subsequent life indi- 
cate. Where the blame lay we are not competent to 
determine. Dr. Macwhorter throws it chiefly on the 
pastor, though the merciless edge of his sarcasm does 
not spare the people. " Matters were peaceable in the 
town," he says, " and went well in the Church while 
the father lived, but soon after his death some became 
uneasy with the young man. His abilities, and the 
pride of directing were far beyond any thing that the 
congregation had been accustomed to witness."* But 
Mr. Dickenson, of Elizabethtown, who undoubtedly 
knew the facts, as he was a pupil of Mr. Pierson in 
Yale College, and graduated under his presidency, as- 
cribes it to an unreasonable jealousy on the part of 
the people. In reply to some reflections on the conduct 
of the Presbyterians by an Episcopal minister, after 

misapprehension in Dr. Macwhorter's ter's statement respecting the meeting of 

statement respecting the emigrants from two contradictory elements — from the old 

Scotland. Excepting Douglass, none of hive in Connecticut on the one hand, and 

the names mentioned appears in any from Scotland on the other, and its in- 

list of settlers, or in any town trans- fluence in producing division and dissatis- 

actions, until about the time of Mr. faction in the Church— is substantially 

Pierson's dismission. The name of Rob- correct, notwithstanding the errors of its 

ert Young first appears in the records details. 

in 1690. James Clisby was admitted a * Century Sermon, p. 10. The spirit of 

planter in March, 1693-4. Dr. M.'s Cen. this statement is manifestly incorrect. Mr. 

tury Sermon gives 1670 as the date of Pierson was neither as far superior in abil- 

their arrival in Newark ; but if they were ities to his father, nor as far inferior in 

here so soon, they certainly could not have other respects as this would imply. Nor 

been " admitted to great privileges in the was he at this time entitled to be called a 

town" till a much later day. None of their young man, having reached the mature 

names, except that of Douglass, appear age of 37 years when his father died, and 

among the signers of the agreement to that of fifty-one or two at the time of his 

pay Mr. Pierson's salary, when there was dismissal. Dr. M. is mistaken, too, in 

a difficulty respecting that matter in 1688. supposing him to have been dismissed 

Scotchmen however were here, and one of soon after his father's decease. During 

them, probably, viz., John Cockburn, was at least ten years of his sole pastorate we 

among those signers. On the whole, how- hear not a note of disturbance or disaffec- 

<ever, it seems probable that Dr. Macwhor- tion. 



88 



CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 



speaking of the harmonious co-operation of Congrega- 
tionalists and Presbyterians in New England, "who 
have always," he says, u lived together as nnited 
brethren," he thus refers to the case now before us : 
" Some of the people of Newark have, indeed formerly, 
been culpable for managing a controversy with their 
worthy minister upon these points, and I hope your 
putting them in mind of it, may conduce to their hu- 
miliation, if there be any of them yet living. But 
then they did not imitate the disposition of the people 
of New England in this opposition to that worthy gen- 
tleman, who removed from their abuses to New Eng- 
gland, was there received with great kindness and 
love, and advanced to the rectoral charge of their col- 
lege, in which he lived and died in the highest honor 
and esteem among them all, notwithstanding his Pres- 
byterian principles. In a word, as both Presbyterians 
and Congregationalists were from the beginning em- 
barked upon the same bottom, so have they yet reason 
to conclude, notwithstanding their lesser trifling differ- 
ences in their sentiments, that they have all the same 
common interests to pursue." 

It is not improbable that the truth lay somewhere 
between these two apparently opposite judgments. 
The people were liable, from their early history to be 
too strenuous on points of ecclesiastical government ; 
and the minister may have erred in attempting to in- 
troduce in such a community, modifications for which 
the body of the people were not prepared. 

Traces of the dissatisfaction may perhaps be detected 
in the records of the town, wherein it appears that on 



CAUSES OF DISSATISFACTION. 



89 



one occasion the usual vote to collect the pastor's sal- 
ary " by a rate," was afterwards " desisted from," and 
recourse had to a voluntary contribution; and that 
during the last two years of his ministry, the amount 
agreed upon was not collected in any way * It is due, 
however, to the honor of the town to add, that not- 
withstanding this temporary stopping of the supplies, 
all arrearages were collected and paid in full after his 
dismission.f 



* " Jan. 2, 1687-8. Itenir— The way of 
rating as formerly, which was after desist- 
ed from, and agreed to pay the minister 
by contribution for the year 1687." 

"Jan. 9, 1687-8. It is fully and unani- 
mously consented unto by every planter 
now present, all being called by name, 
that they will from time to time pay or 
cause to be paid yearly, in their full pro- 
portion, equally, in a rate that may be 
agreed on by the major part of the town, 
to the maintenance and allowance now 
agreed upon for the upholding and preach- 
ing of the Word in our town, and eighty 
pounds by the year is agreed upon to be 
allowed to the present minister, with his 
fire- wood, and to be rate free. NoU — It is 
to be understood that every man that doth 
now subscribe to this agreement, he pay- 
ing his proportion in the rate, shall not be 
liable to be prosecuted to make payment 
for any that may be deficient in non-pay- 
ment. In confirmation whereof, we have 
hereunto set our names. John Ward, sen., 
John Bruen, Thos. Johnson, Samuel Free- 
man, John Curtis, John Baldwin, jr., Seth 
Tompkins, Micah Tompkins, Sam'l Tiche- 
nor, Edw. Ball, Edw. Riggs, Sam'l Kitchel, 
John Cockburn, Anthony • OlifF, Joseph 
Kiggs, Theophilus Pierson, Azariah Crane, 
Samuel Harrison, Daniel Dod, Stephen 
Davis, Samuel Plum, sen., John Crane, 
Nathaniel Ward, John Browne, sen., Zech- 
ariah Burwell, Ephraim Burwell, Thomas 
Browne, John Tichenor, Joseph Browne, 
John Browne, jr., Joseph Walters, Eben- 
ezer Camfield, Matthew Camfield, Robert 



Dalglesh, Francis Lindly, Samuel Pierson, 
Jasper Crane, Joseph Harrison, Thomas 
Pierson, Samuel Dod, George Harrison, 
Samuel Lyon, Thomas Richards, David 
Ogden, Samuel Rose, Richard Lawrence, 
Jonathan Sargeant, John Baldwin, sen., 
Hans Albers, Jonathan Tompkins, Joseph 
Johnson." 

" Town meeting, April 2, 1692. It is 
voted that Mr. Pierson shall be paid his 
salary for that time which no rates have 
been made proportionable to the rate 
made for two years together, viz. : '88 and 
'89." Town Records, pp. 11], 112, 116. 

t The period above referred to was one 
of great political disorder. Sir Edmund 
Andros had received a commission as 
Governor of all New England, including 
New York and New Jersey. He assumed 
the government of this Province in 1688, 
the Proprietors having made a formal sur- 
render of their patent to King James on the 
condition that their rights to the soil should 
be respected. Of this event several old 
deeds and wills of the Newark people 
bear witness, by being dated at "Newark, 
in the government of New England." 
(See Newark "Town Book.") But the 
Revolution in England had led to the 
seizure of Andros, and the subversion of 
his offensive government in New Eng- 
land. Deputy Governor Hamilton doubt- 
ing about his powers, had gone to England 
for instructions. Governors were appoint- 
ed whom the people " scrupled to obey," 
and during several years, viz., from 1689 
to 1692, they were left without any gov- 



90 CHAEACTEE OF ABEAHAM PIEKSON, JUNTOE. 



The date of this event was somewhere between the 
23d of January,* and the 2d of April in the year 
1692. Immediately afterwards, Mr. Pierson sold his 
house and lands in Newark, and returned to Connecti- 
cut, where he settled as pastor of the Church in Kil- 
lingworth, in the year 1694. A few years later, on 
the institution of Yale College, he was appointed its 
first rector, and his people being unwilling to part 
with him, the trustees established the college tempora- 
rily at Killingworth, where he continued in the exer- 
cise of both offices till his death, which took place oh 
the 5th of March, 1707, in the sixty-sixth or sixty- 
seventh year of his age.f 

The character of Mr. Pierson seems to have fallen 
in no respect behind that of his excellent father. 
Trumbull says of him — u He had the character of a 
hard student, a good scholar, and a great divine. In 
his whole conduct he was wise, steady and amiable. He 
was greatly respected as a pastor, and he instructed 
and governed the College with general approbation." 
There is no doubt that he was a thorough Calvinist, 
or he would not have been appointed as the first Pres- 
ident or Eector of Yale College. An early tradition 

ernment whatsoever, except that of their the following : " It is voted, that the sol- 
own local authorities. Of the troubled diers be paid their wages for the time 
state of affairs the Newark Town Records they were out." How much inflnence 
show tokens in the vote of March 25th, these disorders may have had in discour- 
1689-90, already referred to, appointing a aging the people in their ecclesiastical af- 
committee "to order all affairs in as pru- fairs, must be left to conjecture. (See 
dent a way as they can for the safety of Whitehead, pp. 112-181. Newark Town 
ourselves, wives, children and estates, ac- Book. Newark Town Records.) 
cording to the capacity we are in ;" and at * See Patrick Falconer's will, 
the beginning of the next year, we find t Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 488. 



CONCLUSION. 



91 



represents him as an excellent preacher, and an ex- 
ceedingly pious and good man ; and particularly as 
" very kind and charitable to the poor and indigent, 
who in a special manner lamented his death."* 

Such were the beginnings, and such the men who 
made the beginnings of this ancient Church and con- 
gregation. It was my intention to pursue the sketch, 
and bring it down near to the present time. But the 
matter has so grown upon my hand, that I shall be 
obliged to defer the rest to some other opportunity. 

Let me close to-day with one or two reflections sug- 
gested alike by the text, the subject of discourse, and 
the present occasion. 

" One generation passeth away." So we find it. 
" The fathers" of this Church, " where are they, and its 
prophets, do they live for ever V All who shared in 
its early toils have been done with earth more than a 
century, and their memories' we are able to restore 
only from obscure vestiges. Even the generation 
which stood here when the aged Macwhorter sum- 
moned his flock fifty years ago, to "consider the days 

* In a letter, said to have been written bers that he was a very kind, charitable 
to President Stiles of Yale College, in 1788, man to the poor and indigent, who in a 
"by Abr'm Pierson, son of Ab'm Pierson, special manner lamented his death. She 
son of Rector Pierson, son of Abr'm Pier- also remembers his having care of a col- 
son, pastor of a Church on L. I.," it is lege." Lambert says, p. 151, "After Mr. 
said, "that an aged woman of ninety states Pierson graduated, and before he settled 
that she has seen said Mr. Abraham Pier- in Newark, he resided for some months in 
son, and heard him preach often. He was Milford, and it is thought pursued his the- 
something taller than a middle size, a ological studies with Mr. Newton. He 
fleshy, well formed and comely looking married while in Milford, Abigal Clark, 
man ; and she remembers that the people daughter of George Clark, farmer, and 
set very much by him, and esteemed him sister of Sarah, the mother of Governor 
an exceeding pious good man, and an ex- Law." 
cellen t preacher. Particularly she remem- 



92 



CONCLUSION. 



of old and the years of ancient times," where are they 
now? Almost all gone! And is the generation of 
which we form a part destined to a different lot ? The 
dying of another year, another half century, speaks to 
us of dying time, dying opportunities, a dying life t 
We are all going, and if not prepared for our depart- 
ure soon, it is very certain that we never shall be. 

But we are reminded also by the same sacred Word 
that "another generation conieth." The world will 
not cease its course because we are gone. Other forms 
will occupy this house of prayer, other voices will 
sound the praises of the sanctuary, and another tongue 
will speak of the love of Jesus, and point the way to 
heaven in this pulpit. At least so we trust it may be. 

So it will be, through God's grace and Providence, 
if we are faithful in the work assigned us. Even now 
we see the young plants scattered among us, who will 
flourish as we trust, when we are removed, strong, 
healthful, fair and fruit producing trees in the garden 
of our God. Another generation cometh! Alas, 
many of the present race of men have had the offer of 
salvation and rejected it; and even the professed chris- 
tians of the present age are far below the true mark, 
both in the intensity and the completeness of their 
piety. Let them pass away then, if it must be so, and 
a new and better era dawn upon the Church and the 
world. Another generation cometh ! O yes, and we 
will take courage, as we see their glowing counte- 
nances intent on listening to the Word of Life in the 
sanctuary, in the Sabbath school, and at the family 
altar, in the hope that they will prove themselves a 



CONCLUSION. 



93 



purer, holier, more completely Christian race of men 
than were any of their fathers. So shall the promise 
be secured to us, " The glory of this latter house shall 
be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of 
Hosts." 



DISCOURSE NUMBER II. 



Ecclesiastes, i : 4. One generation passeth away and another generation conieth. 

Some may ask, where is the propriety of inquiring 
so minutely into the experience of long buried gene- 
rations. Since " their love, and their hatred, and their 
envy have now perished, neither have they any more 
a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the 
sun," why not let their names and their history too 
pass into oblivion ? 

We reply, the seeds of the present are to be found 
in the past. The world, with all its circumstances, 
opinions, customs, laws, ruling our present condition 
and shaping our future destiny, are what they are in 
consequence of the actions and characters of those who 
have gone before us. We ourselves are what we are, 
because of influences which have distilled upon us, like 
the silent dew, through the atmosphere of a thousand 
generations. In the past therefore we have a practical 
interest, and must look narrowly at its characters and 
events, in order to understand well either our circum- 
stances or ourselves. 

In the former discourse we traced the history of this 



96 



SECOND GENEBATION. 



congregation through the first quarter of a century of 
its existence. We come now to a period in which the 
means of information are less abundant, and the evi- 
dence of prosperity in the congregation less steady and 
unequivocal. The generation of the first settlers was 
fast passing away. A few names already familiar to 
us, are still found among the leaders of the commu- 
nity,* but its affairs have chiefly fallen into the hands 
of the children, or of those who, when the settlement 
was begun, were recorded under the designation of 
" young men."f Azariah Crane, only twenty years of 
age when he signed the fundamental agreement, was 
now, I suppose, the deacon of the Church ; and his broth- 
er, J asper, then too young to be mentioned in the pub- 
lic affairs, had become one of the most active citizens. 
John Treat, son of the chivalric Captain Robert, and 
brother-in-law of Deacon Crane, then only seventeen 
years of age, was now prominent among the " towns- 
men," and with Jasper Crane, junior, serving from year 
to year as a representative of the town in the Provin- 
cial Legislature. John Curtis, who was twenty-five 
years old at that time, had become one of the most re- 
spected fathers of the community. Jonathan Sargeant 
and Daniel Dod, then likewise among the " young men" 

* Among the old men who still took " the town agreed that a rate of £80 should 

part in public affairs at the beginning of be made for the minister forthwith for the 

this period, were Mr. Ward, who died year past by Deacon Ward and Mr. Samuel 

soon after, Mr. Thomas Johnson, Thomas Kitchell," direction was given to the same 

Luddington, Zechariah and Ephraim Bur- official worthies that they should " speak 

well, Thomas Richards, Edward Ball, Ben- to the young men in our town that are for 

jamin Baldwin, William Camp, andThom- themselves, and to see what they will vol- 

as Pierson, senior. untarily pay to the minister." —Records, 

t When the salary of good old Abrahaca p. 9. Among the number so designated 

Pierson, senior, was fixed in 1668, and were several of the names above men- 
tioned. 



REV. JOHN PRUDDEN. 



were now high in office and influence ; and the frequent 
recurrence in all important matters, of the names of 
Samuel and Joseph Harrison, Theophilus Pierson, Jo- 
seph Johnson, Seth Tompkins, Nathaniel Ward, Jabez 
Rogers, reminds us of, the prophetic promise, " instead 
of thy fathers shall be thy children." In the progress 
of this history we shall have less occasion hereafter to 
speak either of individuals, or of the community in its 
civil and social relations. 

The next minister was the Rev. John Prudden, who 
was called to the office by a vote of the town, and sig- 
nified his acceptance of the invitation with its terms, 
at the town meeting, August 23, 1692. The choice 
appears to have been unanimous and cordial. " It was 
consulted, consented and unanimously agreed," says the 
record, " that Mr. John Prudden should be called to be 
their minister," and in testimony of their disposition to 
show all due respect to the sacred office, notwithstand- 
ing any adverse inferences which might be drawn from 
the untimely dissolution of the former ministerial con- 
nection, the people covenanted that " in case he should 
come and settle among them in that work, they would 
freely and readily submit themselves to him and to his 
dispensations and administrations, from time to time, in 
the discharge of his ministerial office, as God should 
assist and direct him therein by His Word and Spirit, 
for their spiritual good and edification."* 

Mr. Prudden was a College classmate of his imme- 
diate predecessor, Abraham Pierson, junior, and a 

* Town Records, pp. 116, 17. 

7 



98 



REV. JOHN PRUDDEJL 



fellow townsman, and doubtless an intimate compan- 
ion, in his boyhood, of a large portion of the original 
inhabitants of Newark.* His father was the Rev. Pe- 
ter Prudden, a genuine Puritan, born and educated in 
England, where he began to preach ; and, about three 
years after his arrival in this country, having declined 
several invitations to settle in Massachusetts, was or- 
dained as the first pastor of the Church in Milford on 
the 18th of April, 1640. Trumbull says of him, that 
" his ministry was attended with uncommon success ;, 
and when he came to this country it seems that many 
good people followed him, that they might enjoy his 
ministrations. He had the character of a most zealous 
preacher and a man of most excellent spirit. He had 
a singular talent for reconciling contending parties, 
and mantaining peace among brethren and neigh- 
bors."! 

The younger Prudden was the second son in a nu- 
merous family J — born at Milford, Nov. 9, 1645, and 
left an orphan by the death of his excellent father, at 
the early age of 11 years. Graduating at Harvard 
College in the year 1668, he was invited, in the Spring 
of 16^0, to preach for the term of one year in Jamaica, 
Long Island, where " a convenient pew" was ordered 
by the town to be built for him to preach in. There 
he remained, officiating under a temporary arrange- 
ment, till January 1674, when, regarding himself as 
under no obligation to continue his services, he quietly 

* See Harvard College Catalogue ; also X Thompson's Hist. Long Island, vol. ii ? 
Lambert Hist. Col. New Haven, p. 152. p. 102. 
1 History of Conn., vol. i, p. 294. 



REV. JOHN PRUDDEN. 



99 



told the people lie was engaged to another congrega- 
gation, and took his leave.* After an absence of 
about two years, more effectual and permanent provis- 
ions having been made for his support, he resumed his 
labors and continued in the service of the Church in 
Jamaica till 1691, a short time before his removal to 
Newark. 

It has been said that on his coming to this place, 
perhaps in consequence of it, " the town received an- 
other large accession of people from Milford."f The 
records of Newark show, that not long after this 
event, a company of eleven men — one of whom, James 
Clisby, was a Scotchman, and four others Dutchmen, 
if we may judge from their names — were on the same 
day admitted as planters. J 

About this time the old meeting-house, constructed 
originally, as we must suppose, in not the most durable 
manner, was needing considerable repairs. As early 
as November, 1688, the townsmen had received direc- 
tions to get it repaired, so as " to keep out the wet and 
cold for the present, and also to repair the seats and 
provide cedar shingles to cover it, when the Spring 
comes suitable." But, it is very likely, that when the 

* Prime's Hist. Long Island, p. 313. 1693. John Cooper first appears in 1694; 

f Lambert's Hist. New Haven, p. 152. James Nutman in 1695 ; Thomas Hayes 

% Mar. 5,1693-4. Newark Town Records, in 1696 ; Samuel Ailing, called afterwards 

p. 120. The persons above referred to are Lieut. Samuel Ailing, or Samuel Ailing, 

Joseph Wood, Caleb Ward, Hendrick Esq., father of the Deacon of the same 

Hendrickson, Tunis Johnson, Hans Hen- name, came in 1798 ; Joseph Peck in 1699 ; 

drickson, Bostyafti Vangiese, Garret Lay- John Medlis in 1700. The Tuttles— Ste- 

dicker, Eleazar Lampson, James Clisbe, phen, Joseph and Timothy, children of 

Jonathan Tichenor and William Brant. Stephen Tuttle, of Woodbridge— appear 

Other prominent individuals were added in Newark in the year 1725.— H. Congar.. 
about the same period. Robert Young I find nothing in the Records to sub- 
had leave given him to purchase land in stantiate the above statement of Lambert. 



100 EEV. JOHN PKUDDEN. 

Spring came, the pressing necessity was less felt ; for 
it is not till after the lapse of four years, when the 
settlement of a new minister may have given a new 
spring to parochial enterprise, that the actual procur- 
ing of seven hundred shingles for the purpose, gives 
the first token that the work is to be performed in 
good earnest.* 

The salary assigned to Mr. Prudden was much 
smaller than that of either of his predecessors, and de- 
notes either a decay of pecuniary means, or of the spirit 
of liberality and love for the institutions of the gospel, 
on the part of the people.f It was fifty pounds an- 
nually, and " his firewood free." However, the town 
took care to pay the expenses of his transportation, 
and provided for him " accommodations ;" that is, as 
the word was then understood, a dwelling-house, with 
its appurtenances, and the lot of land occupied by it. 
These were given him, on certain easy conditions, as 
his own property ; and " a rate" having been ordered, 
to raise the sum necessary for the purpose, two com- 
mittees were appointed, the one to put him in posses- 
sion of the before named accommodations, and the 
other, consisting of two divisions, corresponding to the 
two ends of the town, north and south, " for to see af- 
ter the bringing of the wood to Mr. Prudden, and for 

* Town Records, pp. 113, 118. "Thorn- hath liberty to set up a saw- mill, with 

as Brown 500, Jasper Crane 200 of shin- liberty to have use of timber in any com- 

gles for the meeting house." mon lands, provided he shall let any of the 

f That the spirit of self-interest was in inhabitants have boards as cheap as others, 

pretty vigorous exercise about this period, and before strangers J' Town Records, p. 

lake the following indication: "Town 121. 
meeting, June 19, 1695. Thomas Davis 



KEV< JOHN PRUDDEN. 



101 



to call out the people for that purpose whenever there 
is need for his supply therein."* 

The ministry of Mr. Prudden was short — only seven 
years — though he continued to preach to the people 
several months longer. He was not a young man 
when he came to Newark — having already served in 



* The following extracts from the Rec- 
ords may serve to illustrate the method of 
conducting affairs of this sort at the pe- 
riod iu question : 

" It is also consulted, voted, and con- 
sented to and agreed by the said inhabit- 
ants then convened, for Mr. John Prudden's 
encouragement to come and settle among 
us, and that he may the better attend 
upon the^'work of the ministry as Ms busi- 
ness, and for the more comfortable susten- 
ance of his family in his attendance there- 
on, that he shall have fifty pounds per 
annum and his firewood free, to be paid 
yearly, according to several contributions 
voluntarily subscribed by them, to Mr. 
Prudden or his order, so long as he shall 
continue with them employed in the min- 
istry. It is moreover voted and agreed, 
that Mr. Prudden shall have and hold 
such a proprietjr and other conveniences, 
for his accommodations in the town, as 
shall be agreed upon between him and the 
committee appointed to treat with him, 
viz : Mr. Ward, Mr. Johnson, John Curtis, 
Azariah Crane, Jasper Crane, Thomas Lud- 
dington and Stephen Bond, nominated and 
empowered for that purpose." — p. 116. 

"Aug. 23, 1692, The result of a treaty 
between Mr. John Prudden and a com- 
mittee chosen, constituted and empowered 
by the inhabitants and freeholders of 
Newark to act in their behalf, is as follow- 
eth, viz : It is concluded and agreed by 
the said committee, that Mr. Prudden 
shall have and hold the accommodations 
purchased of Mrs. Falconer [the widow of 
Patrick Falconer] for his own propriety, to 
him and his heirs forever, he paying or 
causing to be paid the two last payments, 
indented for with Mrs. Falconer, except- 
ing only five pounds, which the town is to 



discharge, beside what is already done in 
prime bill of debt made to the said Mrs. 
Falconer, as witnesseth our hands sub- 
scribed, Mr. John Prudden. Committee in 
behalf of themselves and their neighbors : 
Mr. John Ward, Mr. Johnson, John Cur- 
tis, Azariah Crane, Jasper Crane, Thomas 
Luddington, Stephen Bond." Records, p. 
117. 

" Town meeting, Oct. 1692. It was voted 
whether the charges for purchasing that 
accommodations that was Mrs. Falconer' ? ? 
and the charge of transporting Mr. John 
Prudden should be equally levied on every 
person's estate, and it was agreed, with a 
unanimous consent, that it should be so. 
Secondly, it was also voted that the charge 
for the payment and transport should be 
charged by a rate according to our own 
agreement formerly made, that is, by 
heads and stock." Query — was this the 
agreement of January 9, 1687-8 ? " Third- 
ly, it was voted that Mr. Johnson and Jas- 
per Crane should give Mr. Prudden pos- 
session of the accommodations that was 
purchased of Mrs. Falconer." — p. 117. 

" It was voted that Zechariah and 
Ephraim Burwell, for the south end of our 
town, and Samuel Harrison and Nathaniel 
Ward for the north end, [be a committee] 
for to see after the bringing the wood for 
Mr. Pierson, and for to call out the people 
for that purpose, when there is need for 
his supply therein."— p. 117. 

" Town meeting, Jan. 2, 1692-3. Benja- 
min Baldwin, Jabez Rogers, William 
Camp and Seth Tompkins are chosen to 
collect the money that is gathered by the 
subscriptions iu Newark for the mainten- 
ance of the ministry in the year 1692."— p. 
117. 



102 



MR. PEUDDEn's DISMISSION. 



the ministry more than twenty years, and, having a 
large property, which freed him from the necessity of 
labor, he may have begun to find the cares of office in 
so large a congregation too heavy for him, and desired a 
release.* Several months before he resigned his charge, 
measures were taken to procure for him an assistant, 
and an unusually large sum of money was raised in 
order to meet the additional expense.f 

Difficulties, however, of some kind, undoubtedly ex- 
isted in the congregation at this time ; and an eccle- 
siastical council was convened, the result of whose de- 
liberations was so far satisfactory, that " the town did 
vote their full compliance with and acquiescence in 
that issue ;" withal signifying that they would " take 
sufficient care to defray the whole charge of this their 
journey and trouble till they return. 77 J That these 
difficulties were not such as seriously to disparage Mr. 
Prudden in the eyes of his people, may be inferred 

* The elder Prudden had an estate in and Jasper Crane are chosen for to treat 

the country, valued at £924, and left a and agree with Mr. Wakeman and Mr. 

landed interest in England of £1,300 ster- Prudden, and if Mr. Wakeman will not 

ling. (See Trumbull's Hist. Conn., vol. come, then some other for a year."' — p. 

1, p. 294, note.) Lambert says: "The 126. 

Pruddens in New Jersey shared half of % " Town meeting, June 9, 1699. " Item 

the interest money received from the — It is agreed upon by vote that we will 

Prudden estate in England." (See Lam- send for the Hon'd and Rever'd Council of 

bert's Hist. Col. New Haven, p. 151, note.) Elders, and [request them] to favor us 

t The following is the record bearing with a sight of those papers wherein the 

on this point, viz: "Town meeting, Jan. issue of the late difficulties so far is con- 

2, 1698-9. Item — It is agreed by vote that tained. Item — The town did vote their 
the town will raise £100 in a way of a rate full compliance with and acquiescence in 
for the upholding of the worship of God that issue. Item — The Rev. Mr. Prudden 
amongst us for a year. Item — It is voted and Mr. John Brown are chosen by vote 
for to know whether the town would have to return our thanks to the Rever'd Coun- 
Mr. Wakeman, if he could be obtained, cil for their faithful and painful services 
for to join with Mr. Prudden in helping him for our settlement, signifying that we will 
to carry on the work of the ministry ; and take sufficient care to defray the whole 
if he cannot be obtained, then some other, charge of this their journey and trouble 
Item— Mr. Pierson, Mr. Treat, Mr. Curtis, till they return." Town Records, p. 127. 



MR. PRUDDEN's DISMISSION. 



103 



from the fact that they made choice of him, with one 
other, to convey their vote of thanks to the Reverend 
Council " for their faithful and painful services ;" and 
at the same town meeting commissioned three of their 
most prominent men to express to him their thanks for 
his past services, and their desire, testified by a very 
full vote, for his continuance among them, and his ser- 
vice in preaching to them, till God should favor them 
with some other supply. This vote was passed June 
9, 1699. 

Never was a pastoral connection dissolved with 
greater manifestations of kindness and good under- 
standing between the parties. His full salary was 
continued to him as long as he should continue to 
preach ; and an order made " that all persons from 
sixteen to sixty years of age shall give to Mr. Prudden 
each of them one load of wood for the year ensuing, 
whether he serve the town in the ministry another 
year or no."* But Dr. Macwhorter intimates that his 
ministry had not been an easy one, owing to the dis- 
satisfaction of the minority with his views and those 
of the " predominant party" in respect to ecclesiasti- 
cal government ; and as he is represented " not to 

* Newark Town Records. Item — God shall furnish us with some other sup- 

Capt. Curtis, Mr. Treat, Mr. Pierson and ply. Item — It is agreed that we will al- 

Thomas Richards are chosen by a full low him for his further ministry according 

vote to return our thanks to the Reverend to what he formerly had in proportion to 

Mr. Prudden for his hitherto services the time we have occasion to use him as a 

amongst us, with a signification that we minister. Item — It is voted that all per- 

will speedily pay off our arrears due to sons from 16 to 60 years of age shall give 

him by our particular subscriptions, and Mr. Prudden each of them one load of 

by a full vote declare our desire of his con- wood for the year ensuing, whether he 

tinuance among us, and his services at serve the town in the ministry another 

present in preaching the Word to us till year or no." Records, pp. 127-8. 



104 



PAKSONAGE LANDS. 



have been a popular preacher," it is possible that a de- 
cline of interest in his preaching, on the part of the 
people, may have been among the causes of his resig- 
nation. 

It is to the period of Mr. Prudden's ministry that 
the origin of the Church property,. or title to the "par- 
sonage lands," is usually referred. The original Pro- 
prietors, in their Concessions, while they engaged never 
to exercise the " right of patronage and power of ad- 
vowson," granted by his Majesty to the Duke of York, 
and by him transferred to them, " thereby to infringe 
the general clause of liberty of conscience," empowered 
the General Assembly of the Province by their act to 
appoint as many ministers or preachers as they should 
see fit, and establish their maintenance ; at the same 
time giving liberty beside, to any person or persons to 
keep and maintain what preachers or ministers they 
should please. 

This power seems never to have been exercised by 
the General Assembly; and at a subsequent period, 
namely in the year 1672, when, disagreements having 
arisen, it was thought proper to abridge the powers of 
that body, the Lords Proprietors, in the instrument al- 
ready referred to, which purports to be an " Explana- 
tion of their Concessions," and a " Declaration of the 
true intent and meaning" of the Proprietors in making 
them, transferred this authority from the General As- 
sembly to the Governor and Council, subject however 
to the previous nomination and choice of the people 
in the several corporations.* In furtherance of their 

* Grants, Concessions, &c, pp. 12-34. 



PARSONAGE LANDS. 



105 



design, to see that religions institutions should be 
maintained on the freest practicable terms, a grant of 
two hundred acres of land \vas made in the beginning 
"to each parish for the use of their ministers," free 
from all rents and other charges whatsoever. The 
people of this congregation being then the only parish 
in the town, early availed themselves of this grant. 

In the month of October, 1676, a warrant was taken 
out for the survey of ..two hundred acres of land and 
meadow in proportion, for the purposes of a parsonage, 
and " also so much as shall be convenient for landing 
places, school house, town house, meeting house, market 
places, &c. ; in pursuance of which warrant, two hundred 
and twelve acres were surveyed the same year, includ- 
ing three acres for a burying place, three for a market 
place, and six for a training place.* I find no evidence 
that any use was made of these lands for religious pur- 
poses, except the erection of a house of worship and 
the burial of the dead on one of the smaller tracts, 
until after December 10th, 1696, when a deed was ex- 
ecuted by the Proprietors, conveying all the above 
named reservations, with their appurtenances, to John 
Curtis, John Treat, Theophilus Pierson and Robert 
Young, their heirs and assigns for ever, " to the only 
proper use, benefit and behoof of the old settlers of 
the town of Newark, their heirs and assigns for ever," 
to be for the several uses expressed in the deed, and 
for "no other use or uses whatsoever," they paying 
annually "six pence sterling money of England, on 
every five and twentieth day of March, for ever here- 

* Bill in Chancery, pp. 91-93. 



106 



REV. JABEZ WAKEMAN. 



after." It is under the title conveyed by this deed, if 
I am rightly informed, that all that part of the church 
property which came from the original settlers of the 
town has been held ever since. 

Mr. Prudden continued to reside in Newark after his 
dismission, as long as he lived. He never assumed 
another pastoral charge, but lived on the best of terms 
with his former parishioners, preaching for them, at 
their request, whenever they had no stated minister, 
and fulfilling important trusts connected with their re- 
ligious and secular interests. He died in the year 1725, 
at the advanced age of eighty years, having outlived 
two, and sat under the ministry of three of his succes- 
sors in the sacred office ; and his remains lie in the bu- 
rying ground in the rear of this church, to which they 
were removed from their original resting place a few 
years ago.* 

The fourth pastor was the Rev. Jabez Wake man, a 
younger son of the Rev. Samuel Wakeman, who was 
installed as pastor of the Church in Fairfield, Conn., in 
the year 1665, and removed by death between March 
and October, 1692. f Jabez Wakeman was about 
fourteen years of age when his father died, and in the 
will, direction is given that he be kept at school, and 
enter college the next August. The delay of a year 
however, seems to have occurred, for we find by the 
catalogue of Harvard College — " the college," as the 

* The following is the inscription on the parted this Life Dec. 11th, 1725, Aged 80 

tombstone of Mr. Prudden — but whose yrs. 

muse presided at its composition I am not " Nor grace nor favour fill my reins. Loe 

informed. room for y e there yet remains." 

" Here lyes y e Body of y e Rev d Mr. John f Trumbull, Hist. Conn. 
Prudden, Minister of y e Gospel, who de- 



MR. WAKEMAN's SETTLEMENT. 



107 



will denominates it, that he was graduated in the year 
1697. About a year and four months after this date, 
the people of Newark wishing to obtain an assistant 
for their worthy pastor, had their attention turned 
towards this young graduate, and appointed a commit- 
tee to treat with Mr. Wakeman and Mr. Prudden for 
that purpose. But the resignation of Mr. Prudden, 
which took place early in June following, gave a new 
aspect to affairs, and shortly afterwards, measures were 
adopted to secure Mr. Wakeman's services as a candi- 
date for the pastoral office. He was first engaged to 
preach in that capacity for a year, but scarcely was 
the year half out, before the ardor of the people pressed 
the question to an issue, and at a meeting held on the 
15th of April, 1700, "it was particularly inquired of 
every person, whether they desired Mr. Jabez Wake- 
man to be called to the pastoral office in this town, and 
they every one manifested their willingness thereto, 
and also voted the same."* 

In the preliminary arrangements for the settlement 
of Mr. Wakeman, we discover the first evidence of 
separate concurrent action of the Church and town in 
religious affairs. On the dismission of Mr. Prudden, 
the town appointed a committee of three men, "to join 
with such as the Church shall appoint, in speedily look- 
ing out for another person to be on trial, in order to 
settlement in the pastoral office," and again, shortly 
after, another committee "to join with the Church 
committee, to treat with Mr. Jabez Wakeman about 



* Town Records, p. 181. 



108 



CHARACTEK OF MR. W AXEMAN. 



his taking the office of pastor upon him." This was in 
the years 1699 and 11 00. 

The salary of Mr. Wakeman was, at first, <£60, but 
it was soon after raised to £80, the same with that of 
the two Piersons ; and whereas Mr. Prudden's had been 
paid u according to several contributions voluntarily 
subscribed," the people now returned to the old prac- 
tice, and agreed that the above named sum should " be 
raised by way of a rate."* A subscription was also 
raised to procure for him a "settlement," that is a 
homestead or " accommodations," as in the case of his 
predecessor ; in pursuance of which, a house and its 
appurtenances were purchased, and presented to him, 
by a deed of gift, " as the town's act and deed."f 

Mr. Wakeman became the sole pastor of this con- 
gregation at the early age of about twenty-one years. 
He was a young man of great promise, amiable, ac- 
complished, and remarkably popular in the pulpit. 
The attachment of the people to their young and 
talented pastor, appears to have been deep and tender. 
Under his ministry the congregation became so much 
increased, that additional accommodations were re- 
quired for public worship, and the town ordered a 
gallery to be built across the north end of the meeting 

* Upon closer examination, I am satis- plan, it was voted that the way of rating 
fied that the rate referred to was levied for the salary " should be as the major part 
only on the estates of those who had vol- of the subscribers should agree upon." I 
untarily agreed to be taxed for the pur- find no evidence of a tax levied indiscrim- 
pose. The record is very explicit respect- inately and without consent of parties for 
ing the "settlement," that though the deed the support of the minister, after the first 
of gift was to be delivered to Mr. Wake- deviation from the original practice in the 
man as the town's act and deed, the money case of Abraham Pierson, junior, in the 
to procure it should "be raised by way of the year 1687. Town Records, p. 133. 
rate upon the estates of the subscribers.'' 1 f Besides the accommodations mention- 
In apparent accordance with the same ed above, we find the following under date 



MR. W AXEMAN'S DEATH. 



109 



bouse.* But the hopes of the people and the fair 
earthly prospects of the young minister and his family, 
were destined to an early reverse. In the autumn of 
the year 1704, that fearful malady, the dysentery, pre- 
vailing in a fatal form among the people, invaded his 
family. His little son, Samuel, a child of two years 
old, and an only one, died on the 29th of October; and 
only nine days later, the father followed, leaving a 
childless widow, and a disappointed nock to shed their 
tears over his early grave.f 

Mr. Wakeman died on the 8th day of October, 1704, 
in the twenty-sixth year of his age, after a short min- 
istry of between four and five years. In his will, dated 
four days before his death, in which he speaks of him- 
self as u brought very low under the afflicting hand of 
God," and not knowing how soon my change and dis- 
solution may happen," he disposes of his " house and 
homestead," in case of his wife's decease without issue 
or re-marriage, " to the use and benefit of the town of 
Newark," in the hands of seven named trustees, or 
their surviving substitutes, and manifests his attach- 
ment to the sacred office, by the following item : " My 

of Nov. 11th, 1701 : "Item. — It is agreed t During the ministry of Mr. Wakeman, 

upon by vote, that Mr. Wakeman shall or about the time of his decease, there died 

have laid out to him sixty acres of upland, of the old settlers, Samuel Plum, June 13, 

and ten acres of meadow, in the bounds 1703-4, aged 79 ; Captain John Curtis, 

of Newark, if it can be found, if be settle September 17, 1708, aged 62; (See Dr. 

among us to be our minister, and Mr. John J. S. Condit's Monumental Inscriptions,) 

Curtis is chosen to lay out the land above Samuel Rose, 1700 ; Jonathan Tomp- 

said. kins, in or before 1700; Thomas Pierson, 

* The building of tbe gallery was first senior, and John Baldwin, senior, 1702 - 

ordered by vote, Nov. 1702, but as late as Henry Lyon, Francis Linle and William 

March, 1703-4, a committee was appointed Camp, 1703; Mrs. Mary, wife of Azariah 

"to contrive and oversee the building of Crane, and daughter of Robert Treat, 1704. 

it." Town Records, pp. 134-5. —S. H. Congar. 



110 CONGREGATION DESTITUTE. 

library of books, I will and bequeath unto the first of 
my father Wakenian's house and family, who shall be 
brought up at the University, and be fitted with learn- 
ing to be serviceable to God and His church, in the 
work of the ministry. " In the introduction, he disposes 
of himself according to the custom of the times, and 
manifests his pious feeling in the following words: 
" Imprimis. — I commit my soul immortal to God who 
gave it, to glorify Him, and to be glorified by and with 
Him for ever. My frail and corruptible body, made 
of the dust, I will to be decently buried, in hope of a 
glorious resurrection unto eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ, my only Redeemer and Saviour, who was de- 
livered for my offenses, and raised again for my justi- 
fication ; that I may, both soul and body, glorify God 
for ever. Amen." It affords me pleasure to be able 
to add, that the precious remains of this beloved min- 
ister of Christ, are " decently buried" in the rear of this 
church ; to which place they were removed with pious 
care, and for the sake of greater security, a few years 
since, having been only once disturbed during a period 
of nearly one hundred and fifty years.* 

After the death of Mr. Wakeman, the congregration 
remained destitute of a settled minister five or six 

* The following is the inscription on the " By him lies his son, Samuel, died Sept. 

tombstone of Mr. Wakeman. For its La- 29, 1704, JStatis 2d." 

tinity, it is presumed, neither he nor " the There are two tablets, the lower, and 

College" is accountable : probably the earlier one, is in capitals, and 

" Here lye the Remains of y e Revd. Mr. as far as it is legible, reads thus : 

Jabez Wakeman, the faithful Pastor of " th y e body, Jabesh Wakeman, whas 

y e Church of Christ in this place, who De- our Rev d Pastor, who deceased, Oct. 8, 

parted this life, Oci\ 8 th 1704. JStatis 26. 1704, in y e 26 year of his age." 

" Hoc sunt tumulo Wakeman venerabi- The Latin is the same as on the other, 
lis ossa." 



REV. SAMUEL WHITTLESEY. 



Ill 



years. Mr. Prudden was immediately invited to re- 
sume the pulpit till some other supply could be pro- 
cured, and the town voted " to be in the speedy use 
of means to seek for a man to supply the vacancy of 
the pastoral office." But no suitable person seems to 
have been found for a candidate, until after the lapse 
of a full year, when the town voted that their commit- 
tee "should make their application to Mr. Samuel 
Sherman, to preach the Word amongst us for proba- 
tion." But after a few months some facts transpiring 
connected with his former history, of the nature of 
which we are not informed, the negotiations were ab- 
ruptly terminated, by a vote to have " no further- 
treaty with Mr. Sherman upon the account of a settle- 
ment among us."* 

Theophilus Pierson, younger brother of the second 
Abraham Pierson, was now appointed u to be the 
town's messenger to send, to endeavor to get a man 
upon trial," and a committee of five men appointed, 
with Mr. Prudden at their head, " to give Mr. Pierson 
power, direction and instruction in that matter, in the 
town's behalf." 

Mr. Samuel Whittlesey was the next candidate. " It 
was voted and agreed upon," says the record, under 

* "The question was asked the town, "Item. — Mr. Pierson was chosen by vote 

says the record, whether they were satis- to be the town's messenger to send, to en- 

fied with the information that the Church deavor to get a man upon trial in the work 

had from Mr. Sherman's own mouth con- of the ministry among us. Item. — Mr. 

cerning the place from whence he came. Prudden, Mr. Jasper Crane, Deacon Crane, 

It was consented to by vote that they were. Robert Young and Joseph Harrison were 

Item. — Eliphalet Johnson, Mr. Jasper chosen by vote to give all power, direction 

Crane, Mr. Pierson and Deacon Azariah and instruction in that matter in the 

Crane were chosen by vote to return the town's behalf." Records, p. 138. 
town's answer to Mr. Sherman above said. 



112 



LORD CORNBURY. 



date of May 17th, 1706, "to improve Mr. Samuel 
Whittlesey in the work of the ministry among us for 
the space of a year." The result of this improvement 
was a determination, on the part of the people, to seek 
his settlement among them. Some difference of opinion 
probably existed at this time, in regard to the proper 
sum to be assigned for the support of the new minis- 
ter, and it was voted March 31st, 1707, "that the ma- 
jor part should rule the minor in fixing the sum for 
Mr. Whittlesey's salary." Accordingly, the salary was 
fixed at =£65, with the additional intimation that the 
town " would, and were willing to he helpful to Mr. 
Whittlesey, in procuring a settlement for him in con- 
venient season." Mr. Whittlesey saw fit to decline 
this invitation, and was soon after settled as the second 
pastor of the Church in Wallingford, Conn. He ap- 
pears to have occupied the pulpit here somewhat more 
than a year. 

The period in which these transactions took place 
was one of great political agitation. The Proprietary 
government finding itself unable to maintain its au- 
thority and secure the public order, made a formal 
surrender of its powers into the hands of the Queen, 
on the 15th of April, 1702, who thereupon commis- 
sioned Edward, Lord Cornbury, her own cousin, as her 
Captain-General and Governor-in-chief of the Province 
of New Jersey, and sent him hither with her instruc- 
tions to form a new government, embracing both the 
two former divisions of the Province. 

The private character of Lord Cornbury was as mean 
and contemptible, as his administration of the govern- 



LORD CORNBUKY. 



113 



ment was arbitrary and oppressive. " It was no un- 
common thing for him," says a writer quoted in Smith's 
History, " to dress himself in a woman's habit, and then 
patrol the fort in which he resided. Such freaks of 
low humor exposed him to the universal contempt of 
the people ; but their indignation was kindled by his 
despotic rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarice, and 
injustice, not only to the public, but even to his private 
creditors."* 

This detested and detestable young nobleman, re- 
garded it as his special mission in the New World, to 
promote the interests of the Church of England ; and 
although the Queen had expressly instructed him " to 
permit a liberty of conscience to all persons except Pa- 
pists, so they might be content with a quiet and peace- 
able enjoyment of the same," his overweening zeal 
seized upon some expressions having manifest reference 
to clergymen of the Established Church, whom he was 
not to allow to preach without either a certificate from 
the Bishop of London, or a license from himself, and 
made them the pretext for vexatious restrictions and 
exactions upon the old and long established Presbyte- 
rian and Congregational churches.f 

It marks sufficiently the oppressive spirit of this ad- 
ministration, by whose vexatious measures both in civil 
and ecclesiastical affairs, the most peaceful citizens were 

* Hist. New Jersey, p. 352. the English parliament, both in the impo- 
t Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. 4. sition of taxes and the regulation of eccle- 
" It must be admitted," says Graham, siastical affairs." This pledge of freedom 
Hist. North America, p . 464, " that the from interference in religious matters was 
colonization of this province was under- their grand inducement to make the set- 
taken on an assurance, which the settlers tlement. Whence then could the Queen 
were entitled to credit, of their being com- or her officers derive the right to molest 
pletely exempted from the jurisdiction of them ? 

8 



114 



REV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 



well nigh stung to open rebellion, that such an item as 
the following, which I extract from the Newark Town 
Records, should have found place among the transac- 
tions of one of the most ancient, respectable and law- 
abiding congregations in the land. " Oct. 30, 1105 — 
It was agreed upon by vote, to petition my Lord Corn- 
bury for license, that we may have leave to get and 
settle a man in the work of the ministry of the Gospel, 
according to our own persuasion."* 

That this precaution was not adopted without rea- 
son, is manifest from what took place two years after- 
wards, in the case of Rev. Francis Makemie, a highly 
respected member of the first presbytery ever estab- 
lished in this country. This excellent man was seized 
by order of the Governor, for the alleged offence of 
preaching in the city of New York without a license, 
carried about the country, from Newtown, on Long Is- 
land, through Jamaica to New York, and there thrust 
into prison, where he was detained six weeks. After 
a long trial, the jury returned a verdict of "not guilty," 
and when questioned by the court concerning their 
reasons, simply replied that "they believed in their 
conscience, they had done the defendant justice," and 
that he " had not transgressed any law." Thereupon 
the court ordered the prisoner to be discharged ; not 
however without first throwing upon him the whole 
costs of the prosecution, including fees to the sheriff 
for arresting him, and the high sheriff for committing 

* The Record adds, " Item. — Mr. Prud- personate the town in signing the petition, 

den, Mr. Pierson and Sergeant John Mor- Mr. Pierson is chosen to prefer it to my 

ris are chosen by vote to draw a petition. Lord Cornbury." Records, p. 136. 
It is voted that the Clerk of the town shall 



KEV. FRANCIS MAKEMIE. 



115 



Mm to prison, together with £12 12s. to the prosecut- 
ing attorney — the whole amounting to somewhat more 
than £80* — and the impoverished Presbyterian minis- 
ter was permitted to pursue his journey to New Eng- 
land, with such funds as might be left him, or as his 
friends might furnish, musing at leisure, although 
nothing daunted, on the perils of Presbyterian church 
extension within the bounds of my Lord Cornbury's 
government. 

In this outrageous transaction, the members of this 
congregation did not escape their share of annoyance. 
The persecuted minister had, it seems, found sympa- 
thizers, if not helpers among them. During his impris- 
onment therefore, in order if possible to elicit some- 
thing to his disadvantage, that might be available in 
the trial, an order was given to Major Sandford, one of 
the Governor's council, to examine, on oath, Jasper 
Crane and several others, concerning private conversa- 
tions supposed to have been held between Makemie 
and " sundry of his friends," at Mr. Crane's house. The 
inquisition however, brought to light no dangerous 
secrets.f 

It is a relief to know, that scarcely a year elapsed 
after this outrage, before the Queen, listening to the 
complaints of her injured subjects, divested the un- 
worthy official of his abused power, declaring that she 
" would not countenance her nearest relations in op- 
pressing her people." 

* Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. for the above statement, Mr. Crane's resi- 

4, ed. Washington, 184.6. dence is said to be in " New- Z«-£-Town 

t Force's Historical Tracts, vol. iv. No. in East-Jersey" but there can be no doubt 

4. In the edition to which I have referred I suppose as to the place intended. 



116 



EEV. NATHANIEL BOWEES. 



But, to proceed with the narrative : On the failure 
of their endeavors to obtain Mr. Whittlesey, the town 
resolved to send to New England for a minister.* This 
had been, from the beginning, the great clerical hive ; 
and from this source, if from any, the right man might 
be expected. Theophilus Pierson was accordingly 
again deputed to undertake this journey and make the 
necessary inquiries ; and on his return he made report 
" that with good advice from the elders, he made ap- 
plication to Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, when he received 
encouragement, that if the town would signify their 
desire therein, he would give us a visit."f On hearing 
this report, the town at once resolved to accede to the 
proposition implied in it ; and, to testify their cordial- 
ity in the matter, ordered a messenger to be sent to 
meet him at Hudson River, and conduct him to New- 
ark. After preaching to the people one Sabbath, Mr. 
Bowers was invited " very unanimously — not one to 
the contrary," to occupy the pulpit for a year on trial ; 
and near the expiration of that period, a call was given 
him to assume the pastoral office, and a committee ap- 
pointed to make the arrangements for his ordination. 
In the stipulation for the support of Mr. Bowers, we 

* " Town meeting, March 21, 1708. Mr. progress he had made in that matter ; that 

Pierson was chosen by vote to go to New with good advice from the elders, he made 

England to endeavor to procure a minister; his application to Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, 

and the committee that was before chosen, of whom he received this encouragement; 

viz: Mr. Pierson, [Mr. Prudden?] Deacon that if the town would signify their desire 

Azariah Crane, Mr. Jasper Crane, Sergeant therein, he would give us a visit ; which 

Joseph Harrison, Robert Young and Lieut, was put to vote, and very unanimously 

Samuel Ailing, were appointed to give voted that there should be a messenger 

him his instructions in the management of sent to Hudson's river, on the 16th June, 

that affair." to wait upon him to Newark." Records, 

t "June 3, 1709. Upon Mr. Pierson's pp. 140-1. 
return he made a report to the town of the 



REV. NATHANIEL BOWERS. 



Ill 



find the first notice of a parsonage house — perhaps the 
same which had been given to Mr. Wakeman, and re- 
conveyed for the use of the town by his will. The 
salary assigned to him after his settlement was £80, 
and the use of the parsonage — " he keeping it in re- 
pair."* 

The Kev. Nathaniel Bowers was the fifth pastor of 
this Church. Of his origin, parentage, education and 
early history, I have no knowledge, except that he 
came from New England. As his name does not ap- 
pear among the graduates either of Harvard College 
or Yale, he must have been educated in the old coun- 
try, or not have received a collegiate education.^ The 
dates of his ministry may be very accurately stated. 
He arrived in Newark on the 16th of June, 1709, and 
was installed as pastor of the Church in the autumn of 

* The salary here named, was raised Assembly." Parish and town seem from 
" by way of rating," as in the case of Mr. that date to have become practically sepa- 
Wakeman; the record says, "according rated, though not nominally, 
to our former way of rating for the min- + The Rev. Mr. Guernsey, formerly pas- 
ister." But here there is no room for tor of a church in Derby, gives me the 
doubt as to what was meant by that ex- following account of a conversation with 
pression ; for a committee was appointed the late Professor Kingsley, of Tale Col- 
"on a lecture day," June 28, 1710, "to lege: "Prof. Kingsley says that Bowers, 
deliver the subscription to Mr. Bowers, of Derby, went westward, and was met by 
which was drawn up and signed by the a delegation of the congregation he went 
greater part of the town, for the payment to serve at the New York State line. He 
of his yearly salary;" and, subsequently, did not give his name, nor did he name 
an order is given that "a list of the estates the place to which he went. Of his sub- 
of the subscribers" should be given in to sequent history he knows nothing." The 
the assessors, for that purpose. After this name of the Derby Bowers was John, and 
period, special assessors and collectors he removed, as Trumbull says, to Rye; 
were appointed annually for the minister's but the resemblance of the circumstances 
rate ; and from and after the year 1714, above stated to those recorded in the New- 
when the town charter was obtained, the ark Town Records, leads me to suspect 
business of raising money for religious that the Professor's information had con- 
purposes is always transacted at special founded two things, and that Nathaniel, of 
town meetings, and those meetings are Newark, may have been the man he had 
not recorded, like those at which the or- in view. I insert the tradition, hoping it 
dinary civil affairs of the town are trans- may furnish a clue to the true origin of 
acted, as called " pursuant to an act of Mr. Bowers. 



118 



SECOND HOUSE OF WOBSHIP. 



1710. Whether this was his first settlement, as the 
term " ordination," nsed in the Records, seems to im- 
ply, or whether that word may have been nsed loosely 
for installation, may be a matter of donbt. His age — 
already past thirty-five years — wonld seem to favor 
the latter supposition. Mr. Bowers occupied the pul- 
pit a little more than seven years, and was the pastor 
of the Church about six.* His death occurred in the 
month of August, 1716, in the 43d year of his age, 
and his remains lie in the rear of this Church, by the 
side of those of Prudden and Wakeman.f 

It was just before the commencement of Mr. Bow- 
ers' ministry, viz : in the year 1708, that the second 
house of worship has been usually said to have been 
erected. Such is the statement of Dr. Macwhorter ; 
and such also was the apparent testimony of the vane 
upon the steeple, which bore upon it, within the mem- 
ory of many now living, the figures 1708. One fact, 
however, seems strongly to oppose that opinion. The 
records of the town, covering that period, though they 
contain several votes relating to ecclesiastical affairs, 
make no allusion to any such enterprise ; and as the 
statement of Dr. Macwhorter was founded upon tradi- 
tion nearly a century after the event, and the figures 

* During the ministry of Mr. Bowers, Condit's Monumental Inscriptions. — Mr. 

or the vacancy which preceded it, a few S. H. Congar. 

more deaths of first settlers appear to + The epitaph of Mr. Bowers is as fol- 

have taken place. Samuel Lyon died in lows : " Here lyeth the body of the Rev. 

1706 ; Jonathan Sargeant in 1709 ; Zecha- Mr. Nathaniel Bowers, pastor of the church 

riah Burwell about 1712. The tomb-stone in this place, who died August 4, Anno 

of John Treat bears the following inscrip- Domini, 1716, in the 43d year of his age." 

tion : " Here lyes interred the body of He left a widow, Hannah, and one son, 

John Treat, Esq., aged 65 years, who de- Nathaniel, who was a seaman. — S. H. Con- 

parted this life August the 1st, 1714." Dr. gar. 



SECOND HOUSE OF WORSHIP. 119 

on the vane may have derived their origin from the 
s&me source, it seems probable that the true date is 
soineAvhere between the 12th of April, 1714, and the 
lOth of August, 1716, when a vacancy occurs in the 
records. I am the more inclined to this conclusion, as 
one of the first entries made subsequently to that pe- 
riod, is the choice of " two men to seat the three men 
that were chosen to seat the meeting house,"* showing 
that, for some reason or other, the important and deli- 
cate office of "seating," had just been formally dis- 
charged — the agents in the work alone remaining to 
be disposed of by still other authorities. 

The edifice, to which I now refer, was built of stone, 
about forty-four feet square, and had a bell in the 
steeple as early as the year 1735. f Of this edifice Dr. 
Macwhorter observes : " It was an exceeding great ex- 
ertion of the people to erect it, and it was the most 
elegant edifice for public worship at that time in the 
Colony, however mean it may now be considered. 
There were considerable difficulties and contentions in 
the society to get it as large as it was. It was hardly 
believed that the inhabitants of the town would ever 
be so numerous as to fill it." The tradition which he 

* The two men referred to are Mr. James the old yard where formerly stood Whip- 

Nutinan and Lieut. John Morris. " In pany Church, said to have been the first 

the old burying ground, on the lot of the settlement made west of the Newark 

Nutman family, is the grave of the Rev. mountains." — S. II Gongar. 

Mr. John Nutman, who died in 1751, aged f March 11, 1734-5. A committee was 

48. According to a notice in the New appointed " to take care of the ringing of 

Jersey Historical Collections, p. 380, he the bell, and sweeping the meetinghouse." 

was minister of a Presbyterian Church in Two years later, it was voted " that Han- 

Whippany, from 1730 to 1745, probably nah Shingleton should sweep the meeting 

•called by the emigrants to that region, the house, provided she sweeps it clean, and for 

Campfields and Kitchels, and Lindleys, the same wages as it was done for last 

and Cranes, from Newark, who sleep in year." 



120 



FIKST CHUECH IN ORANOE. 



relates, that " wlien the walls were knee high, all the 
inhabitants, men, women and children, could have sat 
upon the same," does not accord with known facts re- 
specting the number of people in the town about that 
time, and must therefore be regarded as somewhat le- 
gendary. It is said that nearly thirty years elapsed 
before the inside was entirely finished. This house 
stood on the west side of Broad street, a little to the 
north of the spot occupied by its predecessor, and 
being converted into a Court House after the year 
1791, was standing, within the recollection of many 
who are now living. 

On the death of Mr. Bowers, a vacancy occurred in 
the pastoral office of about two years, during which 
time, as Dr. Macwhorter relates, a Mr. Buckingham 
occupied the pulpit, as a candidate for settlement, and 
created great divisions among the people. Of his his- 
tory and character, we learn nothing, except the simple 
statement that in process of time he " returned to New 
England, where he obtained a settlement, lived useful, 
and died in reputation."* 

It was in the latter part of this interval, that the 
first separation from the old Church, for the formation 
of a new congregation, took place. The original 
boundaries of the township, which extended, as ex- 
pressed in the deed, " to the foot of the great moun- 
tain called "Watchung," were, by a subsequent purchase 
of the Indians, as we have before noticed, in the year 
16Y8,f enlarged to the top of the mountain, embracing 

* Dr. Macwhorter's Century Sermon. t March, 1677-8. Newark Town Rec- 
ords. 



EEV. JOSEPH WEBB. 



121 



the territory now occupied by the towns of Orange, 
South Orange, Bloomfield, Belleville and Clinton. In 
the year 1681, an order was given for laying out the 
highway as far as the mountain.* How rapidly the 
settlement was extended in that direction cannot ac- 
curately be determined. As late as the year 1696, 
only two or three families are spoken of as residing 
there. But in 1715, Azariah Crane, one of the Dea- 
cons of this Church, and Edward Ball, one of its ear- 
liest members, speak of themselves as having been 
" settled " there many years.f And in or about the year 
1718, the inhabitants of that part of the town having 
become somewhat numerous, formed a distinct religious 
organization, which was known at first and for many 
years as the "Mountain Society," and afterwards as 
the " Second Church in Newark." It is now the First 
Presbyterian Church in Orange. 

The Rev. Joseph Webb — the sixth pastor — was, 
as I suppose, a son of the Rev. Joseph Webb, 
of Fairfield, Connecticut, one of the original founders 
of Yale College, of which he was many years a 
trustee, and who died in the year 1732. Mr. Webb 
was a graduate of Yale College of the year 1715. He 
was introduced here by a letter from Mr. Andrew, 
proabably the Rev. Samuel Andrew, of Milford, a rel- 
ative of some of the old settlers of Newark, his father's 
associate in the government of the College, and its 
temporary Rector at the time of his own graduation. 
This letter being read in town meeting and " well ac- 



* Newark Town Records. 



t Newark " Town Book." 



122 



OEDINATION OF ME. WEBB. 



cepted," it was voted, December 16, 1718, to agree 
with Mr. Webb for three-quarters of a year on trial, 
and " to give him, for the time, at the rate of seventy 
pounds a year." "Whether this became his permanent 
stipend after his settlement, and whether a parsonage 
house was furnished him as in the case of some of his 
predecessors, the record of no further act of the town 
remains to inform us. His salary, however, was raised 
regularly, from year to year, by a tax upon estates 
during his whole ministry. We learn from Dr. Mac- 
whorter, that he was ordained by the Presbytery of 
Philadelphia on the 22 d of October, 1719* and that 
the ministers present at his ordination were Messrs. 
Joseph Morgan, Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, son 
of Rev. Abraham Pierson, junior,f and Robert Orr. 
He also states that Mr. Webb was settled here with 



* This accords with the published min- 
utes of the Synod ; Mr. Webb's name not 
appearing either as present or absent till 
the meeting in September, 1720. 

t Rev. John Pierson, son of Abraham 
Pierson, jr., was born, probably in Newark, 
in the year 1689, and graduated at Yale 
College in 1711. In the year 17 17 he was 
ordained over the congregation at Wood- 
bridge, as appears from the following 
" Memoranda : Mr. John Pierson having 
performed those acts of trial assigned him, 
viz., preached a popular sermon, from 
Tit. iii : 8, delivered an exegesis on that 
question, an ju stificatio nostra sit ab ai- 
terno aut in tempore prcBstita, answered to 
many questions touching theological mat- 
ters, and also discovered his skill in the 
original languages ; all which being done 
to satisfaction, the said Mr. Pierson was 
ordained and set apart to the work of the 
ministry at Woodbridge on the 29th day 
of April, 1717, by Masters Andrews, Prid- 



den, Morgan, Orr and Dickinson, before a 
great assembly." Minutes of the Pres- 
bytery of Philadelphia, p. 43, note. 

He died in 1770, and his remains lie 
buried in Hanover, where his tomb-stone 
now bears, as Mr. Congar informs me, 
the following inscription : 

" The Rev. Mr. John Pierson died Aug. 
23, 1770, Aetatis 81, who was a minister 
of the Gospel about 57 years. He was an 
eminent Divine ; an excellent casuist; a 
faithful, searching preacher ; a devout and 
steadfast Christian; an undaunted re- 
prover ; a peculiar economist ; stern in 
his behaviour, yet benevolent and kind. 
He passed many scenes of life without a 
blemish in his behaviour. ' The memory 
of the just is blessed.' " 

Mr. Pierson, as will be seen hereafter, 
was for many years associated with the 
pastors of this church in the most impor- 
tant ecclesiastical transactions. 



INTRODUCTION OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 



123 



great unanimity, and for some years there was much, 
tranquility and comfort in the town. 

As this is the first instance, which occurs in this his- 
tory, of an ordination by act of Presbytery, it seems 
proper to inquire here for the origin of Presbyterian- 
ism in this Church. In common with most of the 
Churches of New England, it was established origin- 
ally on a Congregational basis. Dr. Macwhorter, as 
we have seen, stated it, as a tradition, that the first 
pastor was inclined to Presbyterianism ; but the posi- 
tion which he occupied among parties, strongly indi- 
cates the contrary — since the party with which he 
identified himself, and of which he might be regarded 
as a leader, was the one farthest removed from Pres- 
byterianism, according to the understanding of that 
day. With his son, the second pastor, the case was 
different. His leanings, as we have already shown, 
were towards that system ; but the people were then 
strenuous for their old usages, and though a small 
party, chiefly from Scotland, were already among them 
favorable to his views, the jealousy of the majority 
went so far as to break the pastoral relation. The 
next three ministers were unquestionably Congrega- 
tional* Indeed, except in the traditions above re- 
ferred to, we find no trace of any Presbyterial rela- 
tions until about the time of Mr. Webb's ordination. 

* Dr. Macwhorter says, " it may be ob- came to Newark, and after the ministry of 
served that these three last ministers, edu- both the other two was closed; and so 
cated in Connecticut, and under the Say- tar as its influence went, its manifest ten- 
brook platform, seem to have been Con- dency must have been to prepare the way 
gregationalists." Here is the same mis- for the introduction of Presbyterianism, 
take noticed before, respecting the in- rather than to retard it. (See Trumbull's 
fluence of the "Platform." It was not Hist. Conn., vol. i, pp. 482, 487, 488.) 
framed till just before the last of the tbree 



124 



rNTEODUGTIOK OF PEESBYTERIANISM. 



To explain the mode in which the change probably 
took place, it is necessary to take into view the history 
and early relations of these two denominations in our 
country. The Congregational was for many years the 
only one which had a distinct organization. But, 
throughout New England, there was, from the earliest 
times, not a few, both of ministers and people, who 
were more or less inclined to Presbyterian views * 
Nor does there appear to have been, between the two 
parties, except in particular instances, any considerable 
degree of partizan feeling. The Congregationalists 
resented the charge of hostility towards the Presbyte- 
rians, and appealed to their known practice as witness- 
ing the contrary. As early as the year 1634, a party 
in Scotland, among whom were distinguished individ- 
uals of the Presbyterian Church, proposed to emigrate 
to New England, with the express design of establishing 
their own form of government and worship, to whom 
the people of Massachusetts promised a hearty welcome 
and the free exercise of their Presbyterian preferences.f 

* Dr. Hodge states, on the authority of lestation or disturbance, and have and 

Cotton Mather, that 4,000 emigrants of find as good respect from magistrates and 

this class arrived prior to 1640. (Const, people as other elders in the Congrega- 

Hist., p. 39.) tional or primitive way." " So 'tis well 

t See " Hypocrisy Unveiled," by Ed- known, th%t before these unhappy troubles 

ward Winslow, in Young's " Chronicles of arose in England and Scotland, there were 

the Pilgrims," pp. 402-3. " The next as- divers gentlemen of Scotland that groaned 

persion cast upon us is, that we will not under the heavy pressure of those times, 

suffer any that differ from us never so lit- wrote to know whether they might be 

tie, to reside or cohabit with us : no not the freely suffered to exercise their Presbyte- 

JPresbyterian government, which differeth rian government amongst us ; and it was 

so little from us ; to which I answer, our answered affirmatively that they might, 

practice witnesseth the contrary, for 'tis And they sending over a gentleman to 

well known that Mr. Parker and Mr. Noyes, take a view of some fit place, a river called 

who are ministers of Jesus Christ at New- Meromeck, (Merrimac,) near Ipswich and 

berry, are in that way, and so known, so Newberry aforesaid, was shewed their 

far as a single congregation can be exer- agent, which he well liked, and where we 

cised in it j yet never had the least mo- have four towns settled, and more for 



INTRODUCTION OF PRESBYTERIANISM. 



125 



And, though this company were providentially de- 
tained, and thus the organization of a distinct Presby- 
terian Church probably delayed, it was no secret that 
the Congregational Churches contained Presbyterian 
elements, and were modified more or less in their con- 
stitution, by deference to Presbyterian predilections. 
The system of Church policy called the Saybrook Plat- 
form, which subsequently came to prevail in the 
Churches of Connecticut, was probably intended to 
occupy a middle ground between the two systems.* 

Such was the state of the case, when a large emigra- 
tion of the Scotch and Huguenots began to occupy the 
Middle and Southern States. In New Jersey, the 
Scotch began to arrive in great numbers from and af- 
ter the year 1682, when the twenty-four Proprietors, 
half of whom were of Scotland, assumed the direction 
of the Province.f About the commencement of the 

aught I know ; so that there they might century later, Presbyterianism in its corn- 
have Jiad a complete Presbytery, and plete form was introduced into that region 
whither they intended to have come. But by causes entirely independent of both, 
meeting with manifold crosses, being half The Presbytery of Newburyport flourish- 
seas through, they gave over their intend- ed on that ground for nearly thirty years, 
ments ; and, as I have heard, these were and at the present moment, I believe, the 
many of the gentlemen that first fell upon only churches of that denomination in 
the late covenant in Scotland." In the Massachusetts are the two Presbyterian 
records of the General Court of Massachu- Churches of that city, 
setts, September, 1634, is found the fol- * Trumbull says (Hist. Conn., vol. i, p. 
lowing: "It is ordered that the Scottish 487,) "Though the Council were unani- 
and Irish gentlemen who intend to come mous in passing the platform of discipline, 
hither shall have liberty to set down upon yet they were not all of one opinion, 
any place upon Merrimack river, not pos- Some were for high consociational gov- 
sessed by any." (See Coffin's History of ernment, and in their sentiments nearly 
Newbury, pp. 12, 13.) It would seem as Presbyterian ; others were much more 
if this spot about the mouth of the Mer- moderate, and rather verging on Indepen- 
rimack, thus devoted to Presbyterianism dency, but exceedingly desirous of keeping 
by the Congregational fathers, had had an the unity of the spirit in the bond of 
affinity for Presbyterian institutions ever peace, they exercised great Christian con- 
since. The settlement of Parker and descension and amicableness towards each 
Noyes there had no connection whatever other." 
with the incident above stated; and a t Whitehead, pp. 88, 103. 



126 INTKODUCTIOlSr OF PEESBT TEEI ANISM. 



eighteenth century, Presbyterian Churches of a decided 
character began to be organized. The first Presbytery 
ever formed in this country was that of Philadelphia, 
which originated in the year 1^05 or 1706,* and con- 
sisted at first of seven ministers, all but one of whom 
were of Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin.f From this 
time, the current in this region set in an opposite di- 
rection from that which it had taken in New England. 
The Presbyterian elements, being the stronger, ab- 
sorbed the Congregational ; and, one after another, the 
old Congregational Churches of East Jersey, with 
their ministers, most of whom had been educated in 
New England, joined the Presbytery and adopted the 
Presbyterian government and discipline. This they 
could do, without abandoning any of their fundamen- 
tal principles. J The chief difference recognized had 
reference to the admission of persons to sealing ordin- 
ances and the degree of power which should be 
given to elders and synods ; and that was readily ad- 
justed, probably to the satisfaction of both parties. In 
doctrine, both stood upon the same platform. The 

* Minutes, p. 6. ings towards his Congregational brethren 
t Hodge's Constitutional History, p. 88. may be judged of by a passage in his will, 
Among the fathers of the Presbyterian wherein he gives his library "to Mr. An- 
Church, none stand more prominent than drews, and after his decease or removal, 
Francis Makemie and Jedediah Andrews, to such minister or ministers as shall suc- 
pastor of the First Church in Philadel- ceed him in that place and office, and to 
phia; the former a native of Scotland or such only as shall be of the Presbyterian 
the north of Ireland, the latter of Massa- or Independent persuasion, and none else." 
chusetts ; the former, by all his habits and Foote's Sketches of Virginia, p. 57. 
preferences, a thorough Presbyterian ; the X The extract already made from the 
latter inclined, from early education, to writings of Jonathan Dickinson shows 
Congregational usages. The affection of the views with which he entered the Pres- 
these two excellent men towards each byterian Church. He considered both de- 
other is an example to all parties in the nominations as 'embarked on one bottom/ 
Church they founded, Makemie's feel- 



THE CHURCH JOINS THE PRESBYTERY. 



127 



church in Woodbridge became connected with the 
Presbytery as early as 1708, though it still retained 
some of its Congregational usages ; and that of Eliza- 
bethtown appears, with its pastor,* at the forming of 
the first synod, called the Synod of Philadelphia, in 
1717. 

The precise time at which this church united with 
the Presbytery, owing to the loss of records, f cannot 
now be ascertained. Dr. Macwhorter says it was in 
1716 ; but the records of that period are still extant, 
and contain nothing to confirm his tradition. It is 
hardly probable that it took place during the ministry 
of Mr. Bowers ; though the incipient steps towards it 
may have been taken during the contentions about 
Mr. Buckingham, when, as we are informed by the 
the same authority, one of the parties applied to the 
Presbytery for advice. However, the way had been 
preparing for such a step from the very first introduc- 
tion of the Presbyterian polity in this region. Scotch 
families, and probably with decided Scotch predilec- 
tions, formed a part of the population of Newark be- 
fore the close of the seventeenth century, and were in- 
termingled extensively by marriage with the families 
of the first settlers. J We have already noticed that 
Francis Makemie, the father of the Presbyterian 
Church, had friends and partizans in Newark, when he 
first visited this part of the country in 1708. As the 

* Minutes, p. 46. John Ward, senior. James Clisbe mar- 
t The minutes of the Presbytery of ried Elizabeth, daughter of Zechariah 
Philadelphia from 1717 to 1733 are lost. Burwell. Robert Young, a daughter of 
Hodge's Const. Hist., p. 193. Benjamin Baldwin ; and James Nutman a 
% Samuel Nesbit married a daughter of daughter of Rev. John Prudden. (New- 
Samuel Harrison, and granddaughter of ark Town Book.)— S. H. Cougar. 



128 STATE OF THE PEESB YTEEI CHUKCHES. 

death of Mr. Bowers, the last of the Congregational 
ministers, which occurred just about the time of the 
formation of the first synod, left the way open for 
any new arrangement which might seem desirable, the 
probability is, that the people availed themselves of the 
first favorable opportunity to connect themselves with 
what they doubtless regarded as in the fullest sense 
their sister Churches in this and the neighboring Prov- 
inces. The change, if change it may be called, grew 
out of the course of events, and was natural, easy, 
and excited little discussion. 

The first appearance of Mr. Webb in the Synod was 
in the year 1720 ; and from that time to the present 
the Church has been very regularly represented, both 
in the Presbyteries and other judicatories with which 
from time to time it has been connected. Indeed, 
both in its internal and external relations, it has been, 
during that whole period of a hundred and thirty 
years, one of the most consistent and thoroughly Pres- 
byterian of the Presbyterian Churches. 

The Presbyterian Church at large, during Mr. 
Webb's connection with it, was still in a feeble and 
forming state. A large part of the territory occupied 
by its members might be regarded as missionary 
ground. Most of the congregations were probably small, 
and the supply of ministers was inadequate. Very 
soon after its formation, the Synod had commenced a 
small fund for the relief of the destitute, but finding 
their own resources altogether insufficient, they made 
application by letters, in the year 1718, to the Pres- 



DIFFICULTY ABOUT CANDIDATES. 



129 



bytery of Dublin, the Synod of Glasgow, and the Dis- 
senting Ministers of London, for their assistance. Suc- 
cessful in this effort, their next recourse was to re- 
newed exertions among themselves. Accordingly, in 
the year 1719, the year of Mr. Webb's ordination, a 
letter was addressed to the several congregations con- 
nected with the Synod, containing the following lan- 
guage : " Inasmuch as it seems to us unreasonable and 
unjustifiable to apply to other places in this affair, and 
ourselves, who are more immediately concerned, to 
hold our hands, we determined to request the charity 
of our respective congregations in the premises, that 
they would yearly make a collection for the car- 
rying on of the said noble and pious design of plant- 
ing and spreading the everlasting Gospel in these 
Provinces." It is a matter of satisfaction to find by 
the minutes of the Synod, that among the eight, who, 
in response to this call, brought in the first annual con- 
tribution for so worthy a purpose, the name of our own 
congregation stands recorded.* 

JSTo small difficulty was experienced about this time 
in ascertaining the character of candidates who offered 
themselves for employment as ministers of the Gospel. 
Most of them were foreigners, and some brought only 
doubtful credentials. Others, who at first promised 
fair, disappointed the expectations of their brethren. 
Among the number was a candidate by the name of 
Walton, who, having been guilty of miscarriages here 
in Newark, was suspended, by the Presbytery to which 



* See Minutes, pp. 56, 63. 



9 



130 



DIFFERENCES ABOUT GOVERNMENT. 



he belonged, from the functions of the ministry. The 
affair coming up in the Synod in the year 1722, he be- 
haved himself very contemptuously ; but after consid- 
erable conference, as he seemed more disposed to sub- 
mit to discipline, the Synod appointed one of their 
number to read his confession and acknowledgment to 
the congregation among whom the offences were com- 
mitted, and on condition of his personally and pub- 
licly assenting to it as his own, authorized their com- 
missioner to take off the suspension. But when the 
appointed time came, the commissioner to whom this 
duty was assigned, being unable to be in Newark on 
account of sickness, thereupon the delinquent candi- 
date assumed the responsibility of reading his own 
confession and absolving himself. In consequence of 
this procedure new difficulties arose and the process 
of discipline was continued for some time ; until at 
length the recreant minister disowned the Synod's au- 
thority, and in an angry manner broke away from 
their connection. It does not appear, however, that 
the affair caused any serious disturbance in this con- 
gregation* 

About this time some serious difference of opinion 
respecting the government of the Church threatened 
to disturb the peace of the Synod. One portion of 
the members, among whom were the leading ministers 
of this vicinity, leaned to the largest safe and pratica- 
ble liberty ; while the other were probably more 
anxious to secure the benefit of a strong and vigorous 



* Minutes, p. 68. 



Gillespie's overture. 



131 



system. At the meeting of the Synod in 1721, the 
Kev. George Gillespie, of White Clay, a native of 
Scotland, offered an overture, the effect of which was 
to give to each member free opportunity to bring in 
any proposition which he might see fit, with a view to 
its being enacted into a law or standing rule, called, in 
the technical phraseology of the times, an act, by the 
Synod.* Startled by a proposition which seemed to 
open the way for unlimited legislation, and perhaps 
apprehending its design to be the introduction of a 
more vigorous government than had hitherto been 
practiced, six of the members, among whom were the 
moderator, Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, and the clerk, 
Rev. David Evans, immediately upon its adoption by 
the Synod, entered their protest against it. Mr. Webb 
was among the subscribers to this protest. The Synod 
received it, appointed one of their number to answer 
it, and laid it aside for future action. Fortunately, a 
spirit of mutual conciliation seems in a high degree to 
have animated these revered fathers of the Presbyte- 

* Dr. Hodge, in his Constitutional His- by the Synod, for the better carrying on 

tory of the Presbyterian Church, p. 140, in the matters of our government and dis- 

explains the term thus : " Any proposition pliue, that he may bring it in against next 

containing a iule of action, enacted by an Synod." 

ecclesiastical body, obligatory on its mem- " The overture was carried in the affirm- 

bers or inferior judicatories, is called an ative by a majority of votes, and ordered 

act." by vote to be recorded." 

The overture of Mr. Gillespie with the " Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, Mr. Malachi 
action thereupon, as appears by the rec- Jones, Mr. Joseph Morgan, Mr. John Pier- 
ords, is as follows : " As we have been for son, Mr. David Evans, and Mr. Joseph 
many years in the exercise of Presbyterian Webb entered their protestation against 
government and Church discipline, as ex- the above mentioned act and the recording 
ercised bv the Presbyterians in the best of it, and gave in the reasons of their pro- 
reformed Churches, as far as the nature test, which are in retentis." 
and constitution of this country will allow, " Ordered that Mr. McGdl and Mr. Mc- 
our opinion is that if any brother have any Nish draw up answers to the above said 
overture to offer, to be formed into an act protest." — Minutes, p. 66. 



132 



DIFFICULTIES SETTLED. 



rian Church. For we learn that at the next meeting 
of the Synod, the answer having been prepared and 
and presented, and the case deferred from day to day, 
awaiting a favorable opportunity, the protesting 
brethren brought in a paper of explanations, contain- 
ing four articles, on the basis of which they were will- 
ing to acquiesce in the decision of the Synod. In this 
paper is to be found a very full acknowledgment of 
the fundamental principles of the Presbyterian system. 
And as to the right of making rules for the regulation 
of its members and inferior judicatories, they had no dis- 
position to deny that to the Synod, provided such rules 
were not imposed upon such as should conscientiously 
dissent from them. On the basis of these articles, 
which the Synod did not hesitate to approve and re- 
cord, both the protest, with its reasons and the answer 
which had been prepared, were withdrawn — the act in 
dispute was ordered to remain in all respects just as it 
was, and one thing being left to explain and qualify 
the other, " the Synod," says the record, " were so uni- 
versally pleased with the above said composure of 
their difference, that they unanimously joined together 
in a thanksgiving, prayer, and joyful singing of the one 
hundred and thirty-third Psalm." So auspiciously 
passed away the first heavy thunder-cloud which 
menaced the peace of the Presbyterian Church. 
Mr. Webb being absent,* his name is not affixed to the 
articles, but there can be no doubt that he concurred 

* From the record under the same date, sence from the Synod, was produced by 
we learn, that " a letter from Mr. Jo. Mr. Jonathan Dickinson, and the reasons 
seph Webb, containing his reasons for ab- were sustained."— Minutes, p. 67. 



ADOPTING ACT. 



133 



with his friend Dickinson, by whom they were proba- 
bly composed.* 

But a still more important measure was now soon to 
be agitated. Hitherto the Church had had no ac- 
knowledged form of government, and no explicit Con- 
fession of Faith. The general principles of the Pres- 
byterian polity regulated their practice ; and as to doc- 
trine, they all agreed in holding the system generally 
denominated Calvinistic. But now an effort was made 
to secure some more definite standards, and a proposi- 
tion was introduced into the Synod, to require all its 
members to subscribe the Westminster Confession. 
Not to be hasty in so important a matter, the case was 
laid over for one year, and measures taken to secure a 
full meeting of the Synod. Meanwhile, great was the 
agitation which subsisted among the members. All 
the New England men were opposed to the measure, 
and all the Scotch and Irish were in favor of it. Mr. 
Dickinson was particularly repugnant to it ; not 

* The articles of Mr. Dickinson are as these acts be not imposed upon such as 

follows: conscientiously dissent from them. 

" 1. We freely grant that there is full ex- " 3. We also grant that Synods may com- 

ecutive power of Church government in pose directories, and recommend them to 

Presbyteries and Synods, and that they all their members, respecting all the parts 

may authoritatively, in the name of Christ, ■ of discipline, provided that all subordinate 

use the keys of Church discipline to all judicatories may decline from such di- 

proper intents and purposes, and that the rectories when they conscientiously think 

keys of the Church are committed to the they have just reason so to do, 

Church officers, and them only. "4. We freely allow that appeals may be 

" 2. We also grant that the mere circum- made from all inferior to superior judica- 

stantials of Church discipline, such as the tories, and that superior judicatories have 

time, place and mode of carrying on the authority to consider aud determine such 
government of the Church, belong to eccle- 



siastical judicatories to determine, as oc- Malachi Jones, 

casions occur, conformable to the general Joseph Morgan, 

rules in the Word of God, that require all Jonathan Dickinson. 

things to be done decently and in order. David Evans. 

And if these things are called acts we will (Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, 

take no offence at the word, provided that p. 72.) 



134 



ADOPTING ACT. 



because he or his brethren had any dislike to the doc- 
trines of the Confession, for they were all as thorough- 
going Calvinists as any of their brethren; but they 
were apprehensive that the measure would infringe on 
Christian liberty. " They say they are willing," says 
one of their number,* "to join in a vote to make it 
the Confession of our Church ; but to agree to make 
it a test of orthodoxy and a term of ministerial com- 
munion they will not." Suspicions were afloat that 
one of the designs of the proposition was to produce a 
separation and compel the natives of New England to 
secede from their more strenuous brethren. Even the 
peace-loving and. conciliatory Andrews, of Philadel- 
phia, though he was not willing to admit there was 
any such deliberate design, especially as far as himself 
was concerned, felt constrained to believe, as he con- 
fesses, " that some of us are an uneasiness to them, and 
are thought to be in their way sometimes, so that I 
think 'twould be no trouble to them to lose some of 
us" — " our countrymen being scarcely able to hold a 
way with the other brethren in all their disciplinary 
and legislative notions." This excellent man, burdened 
with apprehensions upon the matter, which, says he, 
" lies heavy on my mind," dreading the scandal of a 
division, and yet almost prepared to submit to it as an 
unavoidable evil, wrote a letter to Dr. Coleman, of 
Boston, in which he pours out his anxieties with fra- 
ternal confidence, and seeks advice as to the course 
which he should follow.f Pemberton, of New York, 



* Rev. Jedediah Andrews of Philadel- f It may seem to some almost unac- 
phia. See his letter, p. 135, note. countable that any man who believes 



ADOPTING ACT. 



135 



visiting Boston, took occasion to consult the same 
eminent adviser. Perhaps there was no crisis in the 
whole early history of the Presbyterian Church when 
a serious schism was so narrowly escaped. When the 
case came up for final decision, Mr. Andrews was chair- 
man and Mr. Dickinson a member, with others, of a 
committee to whom the proposition was referred. Af- 



ex animo the doctrines of a Confession, 
and is willing to have all the world know 
it, should yet scruple at unqualified sub- 
scription, and doubt the wisdom of 
making- an extended and elaborate creed 
a test of orthodoxy. And yet I apprehend 
there are many excellent men, especially 
in New England, who can sympathize 
very fully with the revered father of 
Presbyterianism in Philadelphia, as his 
views are expressed in the following let- 
ter, an attentive perusal of which will aid 
in justly estimating the theological posi- 
tion of such men : 

M Extract from a letter from tie Rev. Jed- 
ediah Andretvs to the Rev. Benjamin 
Coleman at Boston, dated Philadelphia, 
April 7, 1727. 

" As to affairs here, we are engaged in 
the enlargement of our house, and by the 
assistance we had from Boston, I hope we 
shall go on comfortably with that work. 
The stone work at the foundation is laid, 
and all the the materials are getting 
ready. We are now likely to fall into a 
great difference about subscribing the 
Westminster Confession of Faith. The 
overture for it, drawn up by Mr. Thomp- 
son, of Lewistown, was offered to the 
Synod a year before last, but not then read 
in Synod. Means were then used to stave 
it off, and I was in hopes we should have 
heard no more of it. But last Synod it 
was brought again, recommended by all 
the Scotch and Irish present, and being 
read amongst us, a proposal was made, 
prosecuted and agreed to, that it should 
be deferred till our next meeting for fur- 
ther consideration. The proposal is that 
all the ministers and intrants shall sign 
it. or else be disowned as members. Now 



what shall we do? They will certainly 
carry it by numbers. Our countrymen 
say they are willing to join in a vote to 
make it the Confession of our Churches ; 
but to agree to making it the test of or- 
thodoxy and term of ministerial com- 
munion, they will not. I think all the 
Scots are on one side, and all the English 
and Welsh on the other, to a man. Nev- 
ertheless, I am not so determined as to be 
incapable to receive advice, and I give 
you this account, that I may have your 
judgment as to what I had best do in the 
matter. Supposing I do believe it, shall 
I on the terms above mentioned subscribe 
or not? I earnestly desire you by the 
first opportunity to send me your opinion. 
Our brethren have got the overture, with 
a preface to it, printed, and I intend to 
send you one for the better regulation of 
your thoughts about it Some say the de- 
sign of this motion is to spew out our 
countrymen, they being scarce able to hold 
a way with the other brethren in all their 
disciplinary and legislative notions. What 
truth there may be in this, I know not. 
Some deny it ; whereas some say there is 
something in it. I am satisfied some of 
us are an uneasiness to them, and are 
thought to be too much in their way 
sometimes, so that I think 'twould be no 
trouble to lose some of us. Yet I can't think 
this to be the thing ultimately designed, 
whatever smaller glances there may be at 
it. I have no thought that they have any 
design against me in particular. I have 
no reason for it. This business lies heavy 
on my mind, and I desire we may be di- 
rected in it, that we may not bring a scan- 
dal on our profession. Though I have 
been sometimes an instrument of keeping 



136 



ADOPTING ACT. 



ter consultation, these men "brought in a minute, which 
with some debate was adopted. It contains a decision 
on the main question in the following words : "All the 
members of this Synod, or that shall hereafter be ad- 
mitted into this Synod, shall declare their agreement 
in and approbation of the Confession of Faith with 
the larger and shorter Catechisms of the Assembly of 
Divines at Westminster, as being, in all the essential 
and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and 
systems of Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the 
said Confession and Catechisms as the confession of our 
faith." As to the determination of the question, what 
were to be regarded as necessary and essential, that 
was left to the Synod or Presbytery, as the case might 
be, after hearing the scruples of the candidate. With 
a mutual pledge to use no opprobrious terms or allow 
any abatement of fraternal kindness on account of 
differences in extra essential and not necessary points 
of doctrine,'' these worthy men at once proceeded to 
bring forth their scruples, and having adjusted that 
matter, all present, with a single exception, declared 
the said Confession and Catechisms to be the confession 
of their faith ; and the Adopting Act became thence- 
forth a fundamental article of the Constitution of the 

them together when they were like to fall tested business than any other minister 
to pieces, I have little hope of doing so of our number. I am afraid of the event, 
now. If it were not for the scandal of a However, I will endeavor to do as near as 
division, I should not be much against it ; I can what I understand to be duty, and 
for the different countrymen seem to be leave the issue with Providence, 
most delighted in one another, and to do "P. S. Ten days ago was buried Mr- 
best when they are by themselves. My Mai. Jones, an old Welch minister. He 
congregation being made up of divers na- was a good man, and did good. He lived 
tions, of different sentiments, this brings about 11 miles from this town." 
me under a greater difficulty in this con- (See Hodge's Const. Hist., p. 168.) 



ADOPTING ACT. 



137 



Presbyterian Church * " The Synod," observes the re- 
cord, " observing that unanimity, peace and unity which 
appeared in all their consultations and determinations 



* The Adopting Act of 1729 is so im- 
portant a feature in the history of the 
Presbyterian Church in these United 
States, as to deserve a place in every local 
history of the Church covering the same 
period. It stands on record thus: 

" The Committee brought in an overture 
upon the affairs of the Confession, which 
after long debating upon it, was agreed 
upon in licec verba. 

"Although the Synod do not claim or pre- 
tend to any authority of imposing our faith 
upon other men's consciences, but do pro- 
fess our just dissatisfaction with, and ab- 
horrence of such impositions, and do ut- 
terly disclaim all legislative power and 
authority in the Church, being willing to 
receive one another as Christ has received 
us to the glory of God, and admit to fel- 
lowship in sacred ordinances all such as 
we have grounds to believe Christ will at 
last admit to the kingdom of Heaven, yet 
we are undoubtedly obliged to take care 
that the faith once delivered to the saints 
be kept pure and uncorrupt among us, and 
so handed down to our posterity. And do 
therefore agree that all the ministers of 
this Synod, or that shall hereafter be ad- 
mitted into this Synod, shall declare their 
agreement in, and approbation of the Con- 
fession of Faith, with the Larger and 
Shorter Catechism of the Assembly of Di- 
vines at Westminster, as being in all the 
essential and necessary articles, good 
forms of sound words and systems of 
Christian doctrine, and do also adopt the 
said Confession and Catechisms as the 
Confession of our Faith. And we do also 
agree, that all the Presbyteries within our 
bounds shall always take care not to ad- 
mit any candidate for the ministry into the 
exercise of the sacred function, but what 
declares his agreement in opinion with all 
the essential and necessary articles of said 
Confession, either by subscribing the said 
Confession of Faith and Catechisms, or by 
a verbal declaration of their assent there- 



to as such minister or candidate shall 
think best. And in case any member of 
this Synod, or candidate for the ministry 
shall have any scruple with respect to any 
article or articles of said Confession or Cat- 
echisms, he shall at the time of his making 
said declaration, declare his sentiments 
to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, 
notwithstanding, admit him to the exer- 
cise of the ministry within our bouuds, 
and to ministerial communion, if the Syn- 
od or Presbytery shall judge his scruple 
or mistake to be only about articles not 
essential and necessary in doctrine, wor- 
ship or government. But if the Synod or 
Presbytery shall judge such ministers or 
candidates erroneous in essential aud ne- 
cessary articles of faith, the Synod or 
Presbytery shall declare them uncapable 
of communion with them. And the Syn- 
od do solemnly agi ee, that none of us will 
traduce or use any opprobrious terms of 
those that differ from us in these extra es- 
sential and not necessary points of doc- 
trine, but treat them with the same friend- 
ship, kindness and brotherly love, as if 
they had not differed from us in such sen- 
timents." Minutes, p. 92.) 

In the afternoon of the same day, it is 
recorded, that " All the ministers now 
present, except one, who declared himself 
not prepared, after proposing all the scru- 
ples that any of them had to make against 
any articles and expressions in the Con- 
fession of Faith and Larger and Shorter 
Catechisms of the Assem bly of Divines at 
Westminster, have unanimously agreed 
in the solution of those scruples and in 
declaring the said Confession and Cate- 
chims to be the Confession of their Faith, 
excepting only some clauses in the twen- 
tieth and twenty-third chapters, concern- 
ing which the Synod do unanimously de- 
clare that they do not receive those arti- 
cles in any such sense as to suppose the 
civil magistrate hath a controlling power 
over Synods, &c." (Minutes, pp. 92-3.) 



138 



ADOPTING ACT. 



relating to the affair of the Confession, did unanimously 
agree in giving thanks to God in solemn prayer and 
praises." The adoption of the Directory for Worship 
Discipline and Government, appended to the Confes- 
sion, as " agreeable in substance to the Word of God," 
and " to be observed as near as circumstances will al- 
low," followed of course, and was assented to without 
opposition.* 

Although the name of Mr. Webb does not appear 
in any of these transactions, owing to the fact that he 
was absent from the meetings in which they took 
place, there can be no doubt as to the views which he 
entertained or the position which he would have as- 
sumed had he been present. What Dickinson and 
Pierson had assented to, and Pemberton called " our 
happy agreement," could hardly fail to have been 
agreeable to their intimate associate, Mr. Webb. The 
act was evidently designed to be a compromise, or 
rather to establish just the position in which both par- 
ties were prepared to unite. It exhibits much care in 
the selection of words, and being written, as I suppose, 
by Mr. Andrews, contains obvious coincidences in lan- 
guage and thought with his letter already referred to. 

* Letter from the Rev. Ebenezer Pern- upon what terms, you will see by the en- 

berton, of New York, to the Rev. Dr. closed prints, two or three of which I 

Coleman at Boston : send you for yourself and thpse to whom 

" Reverend Sir — When I had the pleas- you have a mind to communicate them, 

ure of seeing you at Boston the last sum- The conclusion of the Synod was ordered 

mer, I was expressing my fears that the to be published, that our happy agreement 

subscription controversy would be the might be as universally known as our 

cause of a great disturance and division debates. 1 desire an interest in your 

in our Synod. But I have now the satis- prayers, and am 

faction of acquainting you that Provi- Your most obed't servant, 

dence has been better to us than our fears. Eben'r Pemberton. 

The storm is blown over, and the debate New York, Sept. 80, 1729. 
is peaceably and satisfactorily ended, 



EXPLANATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS. 139 



But the current of opinion in the body was evidently 
setting strongly towards a more unqualified subscrip- 
tion than had hitherto been agreeable to the men of 
New England origin. . Moreover, it seems probable 
that their own minds may have drifted gradually in 
the same direction. In the year 1730, an act explana- 
tory was adopted, which, although the language is not 
perfectly clear, was taken as intended to limit the pro- 
posing of scruples, and the distinction of essential and 
non-essential to the case of those who subscribed in 
the first instance. And again, in the year 1736, a still 
more explicit one followed, declaring expressly " that 
the Synod have adopted and still adhere to the West- 
minster Confession, Catechisms and Directory, without 
the least variation or alteration, and that without any 
regard to said distinctions." Nor did Mr. Andrews 
who was present, at the time, nor any of his associates 
who were absent, at any subsequent meeting, as far as 
we know, present any protest against the decision. 
Either some modification of their former views, or a 
conviction that it was unwise to insist further, led the 
party to which the pastor of this Church belonged, 
silently to acquiesce ; though the leanings of the two 
parties were obviously not changed, and may be plainly 
discovered, both during the difficulties of a later pe- 
riod, in which, while the one insisted on the adopting 
act, " according to the latest explications," the other 
still referred to it as it was in its original form ; and in 
the final hapjDy adjustment of those difficulties, which 
did scarcely more than repeat the same cautious words 



140 PEESBYTEEY OF EAST JEESEY. 

on which both parties had united in the first instance.* 
The Presbytery of Philadelphia, as I have already 
observed, was for several years the only existing one 
in this country. When in the year 1717, it branched 
forth into four others, and so formed a Synod, the 
Churches in this vicinity remained in, or became attached 
to the parent body. But in the year 1733, that body 
having increased in numbers, became again divided, 
and a new Presbytery, called the Presbytery of East 
Jersey, was created, comprising, with some others, all 
the Churches, within the limits of the Province bearing 
the same name. The records of this ancient Pres- 
bytery, with which this Church continued in connec- 
tion under that name about five years, are now, it is 
supposed, irretrievably lost. 

Some causes of disquietude seem to have arisen in 
this congregation about the year 1726, on account of 
which the Synod, on an application from Mr. Webb, 
appointed commissioners, consisting of Messrs. Morgan, 
Anderson, Pierson, Gelston, Dickinson and Andrews, 
to meet at Newark on the fourth Wednesday of Octo- 
ber in that year, " to act with the full power of the 
Synod in all matters that may be laid before them 
in respect to that congregation, and bring a report of 
what they do to the next Synod." What the difficul- 
ties were, or how they were adjusted, we are not in- 
formed, except that the transactions of the committee 
were brought in by their report at the next meeting 



* Minutes of the Synods of New York and Philadelphia, pp. 286-7. 



INTRODUCTION OF EPISCOPACY. 



141 



of the Synod, according to direction, and " read and 
approved."* 

About this time a Dutch congregation was estab- 
lished at Second River, now Belleville, which was then 
within the bounds of Newark. We find it spoken of 
in the beginning of the year 1727, as "the new Church 
and congregation there erected," and at that time, that 
and the Church of Acjuackanunc were both conjoined 
in one body in their ecclesiastical affairs, " and under 
one minister to dispense the Word and ordinances of 
God unto them."f 

Hitherto no separations had taken place in this 
Church except on local grounds. The people, says 
Dr. Macwhorter, had always been of the same denom- 
ination. "There were no sectarians or public divis- 
ions among them." But divisions and contentions of 
a very serious character were now at hand. 

It was towards the latter part of Mr. Webb's min- 
istry, that the earliest "Episcopal congregation, viz. : 
that now known as Trinity Church, was organized. 
Elements of Ej)iscoj)acy had been scattered in the 
province, probably from the beginning, especially after 
the commencement of Lord Cornbury's administration, 
when the Rev. Greorge Keith, a minister of the Church 
of England, made a tour through this part of the coun- 
try, and published an account of his observations. Even 
then, the neighboring settlement of Elizabethtown, 
the original seat of government of the province, and, 
on that account, particularly subject to English influ- 
enoe, seemed to the zealous missionary to present a 

* Minutes, pp. 83, 84. f Town Book, 2d part, p. 159. 



142 



EPISCOPAL CHUECH EOEMED. 



hopeful aspect. "Many of that town," he tells us, 
" having been formerly a sort of Independents,* are "be- 
come well affected to the Church of England, and de- 
sire to have a minister of the Church of England sent 
to them."f In Newark it does not appear that any 
public services, according to the rites of that Church, 
were performed earlier than the year 1729. J In 1^31 
however, a missionary, writing from Elizabethtown to 
his patrons in England, reports, that not only there, 
" but also at Newar\ Whippany and in the mountains, 
where he sometimes goes and preaches to a numerous 
congregation," he finds his hearers increasing ; and what 
can hardly fail to provoke a smile from those who 
have given attention to the history of the Church in 
Newark, during a period of sixty-five years previous, 
gravely adds, that " he finds a general disposition in 
the people to ee instructed and settled in the Cheis- 
tian faith."§ It does not appear however, that they 
became settled into a permanent congregation, or had 
any thing beyond an occasional service in the Episcopal 
form, from some transient minister, until several years 
later. 

The sudden crystallizing of the elements thus pre- 
pared, appears to have been due to a case of disci- 
pline, which arose in this Church, and of whose merits, 
we of the present day are incapable of forming an in- 

* By " a sort of Independents" he prob- any earlier than the latter part of 1730 ? 

ably means Congregationalists. § Centennial Discourse by Rev. M. H. 

t Keith's Journal, p. 78. Henderson, p. 11. This missionary was 

% Centennial Discourse by Rev. M. H. the Rev. Mr. Vaughan. 

Henderson, 'p. 11. Query. — Were there # 



COL. JOSIAH OGDEN. 



143 



dependent judgment.* Col. Josiah Ogden,f a distin- 
guished member of the Church, was accused of vio- 
lating- the sanctity of the Lord's day, by laboring in 
the fields to save his wheat, when it was exposed to 
serious loss by long continued rains. The Church cen- 
sured him, and although the Presbytery reversed their 
decision, deeming the case one of virtual necessity, and 
that , with ardent endeavors to keep the peace of the 
town and prevent a separation, the breach had become 
too wide to be healed, and the aggrieved thereupon 
began "to declare themselves dissatisfied with the 
Presbyterian form of church government." Thus 
" originated," according to Dr. Macwhorter, but per- 
haps we may say more correctly, thus was brought 
into a distinct and permanent form, the Episcopal 
Church in this place. 

The precise date of this event is not ascertained. 
Dr. Macwhorter says it was in the years 1732, '33 and 

* I can find no traces of an Episcopal count of the first formation of a congrega- 
congregation here, even of a temporary ti on of that order is correct? 
character, prior to the occurrence here re- t Col. Josiah Ogden, as before noticed, 
ferred to, except what is stated above from p. 38, note, was the son of David Ogden 
Mr. Henderson's discourse. Humphrey's and Elizabeth Swaine, daughter of Samuel 
Historical Account, extending to the year Swaine, previously married to Josiah 
1728, and published in 1730, makes no Ward. He was a man of influence and a 
mention of Newark among the visitations man of substance. His tombstone, which 
of the Episcopal missionaries. He men- still remains, bears the following inscrip- 
tions Amboy, Shrewsbury, Freehold, Eliz- tion : " Here lies interred the body of Col . 
abethtown, Rahway, Piscataway, Wood- Josiah Ogden, who died May 17th, 1763, 
bridge, and some other places of less note in the eighty- fourth year of his age." (Con- 
in East Jersey, but nowhere do I find the dit's Monumental Inscriptions, p. 137.) 
name of Newark. Indeed, in his map dated In his will, emulating perhaps in his new 
1730 he inserts Newark as a place to which ecclesiastical attachments, the liberality 
missionaries have not been sent. May it of Deacon Azariah Crane towards the old 
not then be fairly concluded that the first Church, he makes the following bequest : 
missionary efforts made here, were made " I give to the rector, church-wardens and 
at the precise date of Mr. Vaughan's re- vestry of Trinity Church in Newark, my 
port, cited above from Mr. Henderson's silver cup or porringer with two handles, 
discourse, and that Dr. Macwhorter's ac- to the same, for and to the only use of said 

Church." — Copied by Mr. S. H. Congar. 



144 



CONTROVERSY AND ANIMOSITY. 



'34. But as the matter was carried up by Col. Ogden 
to the Synod of Philadelphia in 1734, and we find them 
still in correspondence with him on the subject as late 
as 1735, it is probable that he had not, even then, fully 
withdrawn from the Presbyterian Church* 

A bitter controversy ensued. The Rev. Jonathan 
Dickinson, one of the committee appointed by the 
Synod at their meeting in 1735, to correspond with 
Col. Ogden, " was, in the following summer, called in 
by the Presbyterians to preach a sermon against the 
points advocated by the Episcopal Church ;"f and sev- 
eral controversial pamphlets between him and the Rev. 
John Beach, an Episcopal minister of Connecticut, still 
remain to evince the troubled spirit of the times. 
" This separation," says Dr. Macwhorter, " was the ori- 
gin of the greatest animosity and alienation between 
friends, townsmen, christians, neighbors and relatives, 
that this town ever beheld. The storm of religious 
separation and rage wrought tumultuously. The 
openly declared Episcopalians were few, in comparison 

* Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, and Cross did write to Col. Ogden, accord- 

pp. 108-113. ing to order of last year, and he not being 

If the records of the Church and the yet satisfied, and the case being further 

Presbytery had not been lost, we might opened by Mr. Webb, the Synod order 

have formed a correct judgment perhaps, Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Pemberton to 

of the nature of the difficulty in question, bring in a letter for the Synod's approba- 

and have distributed censure or approval tion, to be sent to him." — pp. 108, 113. I 

to the parties according to desert. In the infer from these notices, that Col. Ogden 

minutes of the Synod, I find the following withdrew from, and disowned the juris- 

references to the case: September, 1734, diction of the Presbyterian Church, either 

" ordered that Mr. Robert Cross and the between September 1734, and September 

moderator, [Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, of 1735, or soon after the latter date. 

New York,] as soon as leisure will permit, f Dr. Macwhorter calls it " his famed 

do write a letter to Col. Ogden, in return sermon, from Mark vii, 15. ' Howbeit in 

to his to the Synod bearing date, Septem- vain do they worship me, teaching for 

ber 16th, 1734." doctrines the commandments of men.' " 

September, 1735. ' ' Messrs. Pemberton MS. Hist. 



mr. webb's dismission. 



145 



of the Presbyterians, yet there were two leaders, one 
on each side, who were pretty equally poised, in re- 
spect in point of abilities, wealth, connections and am- 
bition." " This religious brand," he adds, " kindled a 
flame which was not extinguished till the conclusion 
of the late war."* 

For a scene of such violence and excitement, Mr. 
Webb was poorly fitted. He was naturally of a peace- 
ful disposition, and the raging waves of ecclesiastical 
discord must have sorely disturbed his spirit. The 
precise ground which he took between parties, we 
have not now the means of determining. Perhaps he 
strove to mediate, and so was crushed between them. 
Perhaps deficient in decision, he found no ground on 
which he could stand firmly, and so was trodden under 
foot of both. " He possessed," says Dr. Macwhorter, 
"no gifts for controversy, and was hated and con- 
temned by the new party, and sunk into neglect and 
disrespect with the other." The result was, that on the 
application of a majority of the congregation, he was 
dismissed by the Presbytery of East Jersey, in the 
year 1Y36, after a ministry of about eighteen years. 
The terms of dismission, according to Dr. Macwhorter, 
were that the congregation should give him <£100, 
with security for the arrears of his salary. The town 
voted, as appears from the records, to employ him 
during the remainder of the year then current, in con- 
junction with the young preacher, who was the candi- 
date for his vacated place, continuing to him his full 

* Manuscript History. 



10 



146 



me. webb's dismission. 



salary with this proviso, that " if any person or per- 
sons should find fault, and not consenting to pay the 
same, then Mr. Webb is to deduct one sixth part of 
their rate, and allow the same out of it." 

Mr. Webb is said to have been a diligent attend- 
ant on the judicatories of the Church.* In the Synod 
he belonged to the party most jealous for religious 
liberty, and once or twice, as we have seen, joined with 
Dickinson and others in protesting against measures 
which were supposed to have the opposite tendency.f 
He was regarded as a man of prudence, and was not 
unfrequently employed in adjusting difficulties in the 
Churches. In his private character he was meek, 
peaceable, inoffensive and benevolent. " All acknowl- 
edged," says Dr. Macwhorter "that his abilities were 
not of the strongest kind, but he was a plain, faithful 
and painstaking minister. His dismission gave great 
offence to the ministers and Churches of the neighbor- 
hood," and the worst thing that any could say of him 
in a time of party spirit and tumult, was " that he was 
too peaceable and too good." 

* Manuscript History. Mr. Webb's " Here lyes interred an honest, pious soul, 

name first appeared among those minis- Who all that knew his virtues did verole; 

ters connected with the Synod in the year Who must lye here until the judgment 

1725. At the same meeting, this Church day, 

was represented by Caleb Ward, as its And will with me have nothing then to 

elder, who is probably the first elder from say." 
this Church who ever appeared in the 

Synod. He was admitted as a planter in Memento Mori. The meaning of the 

the town of Newark, in 1693. Mr. Con- word "verole," or what was intended by 

gar informs me that he was the son of it, passes my ability to conjecture. 

John Ward, turner, and died at the age The elders in attendance on the Synod 

of sixty-six, Feb. 9th, 1735-6. His chil- at this period were not numerous. Irecog- 

dren were Caleb, Timothy, Theophilus, nize but two other names of elders from 

Thomas, John, Stephen, Mary Smith, this church during Mr. Webb's ministry, 

Sarah Sealy, Hannah Woodruff, and Eliz- viz : John and Samuel Allen or Ailing, 

abeth Ward. On his tombstone we find f See Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- 

the following tribute to his worth : phia, pp. 66, 86, 120. 



DEATH OF MR. WEBB. 



147 



Mr. Webb remained in this vicinity, after his dismis- 
sion, preaching in the neighborhood, and discharging 
his duties as a member of Presbytery and Synod about 
four years. His last appearance in the Synod was in 
May, 1740 ; and it is said, that on a visit to New Eng- 
land, he and his son were drowned together, in at- 
tempting to cross Saybrook ferry, on Connecticut river, 
probably during the year 1741.* 

I have now brought the history of this Church down 
to the year 1736, very near to the period of those great 
revivals under the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, 
Tennent and others, which must be regarded as one of 
the most memorable eras in the history of the Ameri- 
can churches. Hitherto the narrative has been confined 
chiefly to the external affairs of the congregation. All 
the early records of the Church having been lost, our 
dependence for information has been chiefly upon the 
Records of the Town of Newark, the published Minutes 

* Century Sermon by Dr. Macwhorter, 14th, 1733, in the 52d year of his age." 
p. 8 During the ministry of Mr. Webb, The tombstone of Joseph Browne, grand- 
several aged and influential members of son of John Browne, senior, tells us that 
the Church were removed by death. The he died January 30, 1733-4, aged 58, and 
tombstone of Deacon Azariah Crane, thus describes his character : 
which is still standing in the old burying "My life was hid with Christ in God, 
ground, bears the following inscription : Triumphant over death ; 
" Here lies interred the body of Deacon My soul with angels makes abode, 
Azariah Crane, who departed this life, 5th Till Christ restore my breath." 
Novbr., 1730, in the 83d year of his age.'' Joseph Johnson, "the drummer," who 
Near him lies his wife, Mary, daughter of was only 15 years old when the settlement 
Robert Treat, who died Nov. 12, 1704, in began, lived to the advanced age of 83 a 
the 55th year of her age. Anthony Olive, and died in the year 1734. and his tomb- 
who died March 16th, 1723, aged 87, and stone, which still remains, bears the fol- 
Nathaniel Wheeler, who died Oct. 4th, lowing inscription : " Here lyeth interred 
1726, aged 87, were both buried at Orange- the body of Joseph Johnson, son of Thorn- 
Robert Young died Nov. 7th, 1726, in his as and Eleanor Johnson, deceased, he died 
63d year. Mrs. Joanna Crane, wife of Jas- March 11th, 1733-4, in the 83d year of his 
per Crane, junior, and daughter of Samuel age." (See Monumental Inscriptions by 
Swaine, finished her course Sept. 16th, Dr. John S. Condit.) Benjamin Baldwin 
1720, in her 69th year. "Deacon Joseph died in 1726, Daniel Tichenor 1727-8. — 
Camfield departed this life, December the 8. 3. Gangar. 



148 



CONCLUDING EEMAEKS. 



of the Synod of Philadelphia, and a few other original 
documents, chiefly of a secular character. In the por- 
tions which follow, we shall be able to enter far more 
fully into the spiritual history of the congregation, and 
bring forth the proofs of God's power in giving success 
to the ministry of the Word. 

Let us not suppose however, that during all this 
while the congregation had no spiritual history worthy 
to be told on earth, and remembered in the scenes of 
eternity. The agonies of the convicted sinner, the 
struggles between conscience and a sinful heart- — the 
joy of the new born soul, crying to its fellows, " O 
taste and see that the Lord is good" — the conflicts and 
the victories, the prayers and the thanksgivings of 
God's people — the mourner's sorrows cast at the feet 
of Jesus — and the parent's agonies when a wicked child 
went to the grave in his wickedness — all are buried 
now in the deep silence of the forgotten past. And 
yet they are the matters chiefly remembered in the 
world of spirits. There each sermon which those 
good old servants of God preached from those long 
since demolished pulpits — every entreaty they made 
to the impenitent to accept mercy through the Saviour 
—every impressive providence which brought eternity 
to mind — every outpouring of the Divine spirit are 
now held in vivid recollection. The good remember 
with unceasing songs how they were plucked as brands 
out of the burning by the power of grace ; and the im- 
penitent ; with what bitterness of soul do they call to 
mind their lost opportunities, the means and influences 
of grace which they neglected and despised ! We shall 



CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



149 



hear the whole doubtless, in the Great Day, when God 
shall bring every work into judgment. 

Let me entreat you, my friends, while I am dwelling 
for a season on these outward and temporary transac- 
tions of the men of other days, not to neglect your own 
spiritual and eternal interests. The history which we 
are enacting is, after all, of far more moment to us than 
that which we recite. Every hour is pregnant with 
eternal consequences, and ever bringing us nearer and 
nearer to their realization. Oh, let the history which 
our actions now engrave upon the tablets of eternity^ 
be such as we may review with joy ! 



DISCOURSE NUMBER III. 



Ecclksiastss i: 4. One generation passeth away and another generation cometh. 

We have passed over a period of nearly seventy 
years, and noticed the accession, services and removal 
of six successive pastors of this church. We come now 
to the sixth in order, viz., the Rev. Aaron Burr. 

This eminent man was born in Fairfield, Connecti- 
cut, January 4th, 1716. His father's name was Daniel, 
and his paternal grandfather's and great-grandfather's, 
Jehu, all of whom were residents of Fairfield ; the 
first Jehu Burr having come to that place from Spring- 
field, Mass. It is asserted in the biography of Colonel 
Aaron Burr, that his grandfather was a German, who 
emigrated to this country, and purchased a large tract 
of land in Connecticut. But this assertion is unques- 
tionably fabulous. " Daniel Burr, of upper meadow," 
as the baptismal register designates him, was no Ger- 
man, but the descendant of a race intensely puritan in 
all its instincts and sympathies.* Of six sons, Aaron 
was the youngest. From his childhood he had a 
strong inclination to learning, and early discovered 

* For these facts I am indebted to the who gives them as the result of his own 
Rev. Lyman H. Atwater, D. D., of Fairfield, investigation. 



152 



REV. AAEON BURR. 



tokens of that extraordinary quickness of intellect 
which afterwards distinguished him. He was gradu- 
ated at Yale College in the year 1735, under the ad- 
ministration of Rector Williams, in the same class with 
that eminent divine, the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D. D * 

On receiving his first degree, Mr. Burr offered him- 
self as a candidate for the privileges of a resident grad- 
uate on the Berkley foundation. Dr. George Berkley, 
Dean of Derry, and afterwards Bishop of Cloyne, had 
founded in the year 1732, three scholarships in Yale 
College, on condition that the income of certain prop- 
erty which he gave for the purpose, should be appro- 
priated to the maintenance of the three best scholars 
in Greek and Latin, who should reside at college at 
least nine months in a year, in each of the years be- 
tween the first and second degree. The fact that Mr. 
Burr sought and obtained the privileges of this bene- 
faction, shows at once his fondness for classical studies, 
and his position as one of the three highest scholars in 
that department in his class.f 

It was during the year following his first degree, 
while he was still pursuing his studies as a scholar on 
this foundation, that Mr. Burr is supposed to have first 
experienced the power of regenerating grace. " There 
was," says President Edwards, under date of Novem- 
ber, 1736, "a considerable revival of religion last sum- 
mer, at New Haven, old town, as I was once and again 
informed by the Rev. Mr. ISToyes, the minister there, 



* See Yale College Catalogue. pp. 46-52. Obituary notice of President 

t Baldwin's History of Yale College, Burr. 



mr. burr's CONTVERSION. 



153 



and by others. Mr. Noyes writes, that many this sum- 
mer have been added to the Church, and particularly 
mentions several young persons that belong to the 
principal families of the town."* Who these young 
persons were we are not told, but it is very likely that 
young Burr was among the number that the pastor 
Noyes had in his mind. 

The following account of his religious exercises is 
said to have been extracted from his private papers. 
11 This year God saw fit to open my eyes, and show me 
what a miserable creature I was. Till then I had spent 
my life in a dream, and as to the great design of my 
being had lived in vain. Though before, I had been 
under frequent convictions, and was driven to a form 
of religion, yet I knew nothing as I ought to know. 
But then I was brought to the footstool of sovereign 
grace, saw myself polluted by nature and practice, had 
affecting views of the Divine wrath I deserved, was 
made to despair of help in myself, and almost con- 
cluded that my day of grace was past. It pleased God 
at length to reveal His Son to me in the Gospel, as an 
all-sufficient Saviour, and I hope inclined me to receive 
Him on the terms of the Gospel."f Before this period 

* Thoughts on the Revival, p. 36. night cometh when no man can work." 

t See funeral sermon by Rev. Caleb A copy of this sermon is to be found in 

Smith, entitled " A Sermon occasioned by the New York Historical Society's Library- 

the much lamented death of the Reverend Mr. Smith was the minister of Orange, 

Mr. Aaron Burr, A. M., President of the then called Newark Mountain ; born on 

College of New Jersey, who died Sep- Long Island, Dec. 29, 1723, 0. S. ; entered 

tember 24th, 1759, in the 43d year of his at Yale College, 1739 ; licensed April, 

age. Delivered in Nassau Hall, at a 1747, by the Presbytery of New York; 

meeting of the Trustees of the College, ordained Nov. 30, 1748 ; married Martha, 

December 15th, 1759, and published by daughter of Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, 

their desire. By Caleb Smith, A. M." Sept. 7, 1749, and after her decease, which 

John ix: 4. "I must work the work of occurred Aug. 28, 1757, was again married 

Him that sent me while it is day j the to Rebecca Foot, daughter of Major Foot, 



154 



MR. BURR'S LICENSURE AND CALL 



he was a strong Armenian in his religious opinions, as 
were great numbers, not only of the young students, 
but of the leading ministers and Churches of that day. 
But in his case, as in many others, a change of heart 
brought with it a change of creed, and to use his own 
words, he "he seemingly felt the truth of the Calvin- 
ian doctrine." 

Mr. Burr was licensed as a candidate for the minis- 
try in September, 1736; preached his first sermon 
at Greenfield, Mass,, and then came to New Jersey, 
and labored a short time at Hanover.* The first 
notice of him at Newark, bears date November 1736, 
when a committee was appointed to treat with him 
on the subject of his becoming a candidate. " Dur- 
ing the month following, viz., on the 21st of De- 
cember, 1736, it was put to vote," says the Town 
Record, " whether the town desired Mr. Aaron Burr 
should have a call for further improvement in the work 
of the ministry among us, as a candidate for further 
trial, which was carried in the affirmative, nemine con- 
tradicenteP-\ He was accordingly employed to preach 

of Branford, Conn., Oct. 17, 1759. Mr, teach the languages, being sensible of the 
Smith died of dysentery, Oct. 22, 1762. worth of Mr. Caleb Smith, wrote to him, 
JEt. 33 years and 10 months. He is said and endeavored to obtain him for that 
to have been very useful in Presbytery, purpose. Mr. Smith's affairs would not 
and for many years was stated clerk ; and allow him to come till Mr. Burr was oth- 
many of its most important writings were erwise supplied. However, he at length 
drafted by him. His sermon on the death of came to Elizabethtown, where he instruct- 
Burr was the only one which he published, ed a number of young gentlemen in the 
and was composed at a time when he was learned languages, and studied divinity 
much affected with nervous disorder, and under the direction of that eminently 
written with great difficulty. Generally great divine, Mr. Jonathan Dickinson." — 
he wrote with great ease. About the time See " a brief account" of his life, published 
he took his second degree, (i. e. in 1746,) at Woodbridge, in 1763, now in the Libra- 
Mr. Burr of Newark, afterwards President ry of the New York Historical Society, 
of New Jersey College, having a large * Memoirs of Col. A. Burr, p. 17. 
Latin school, and wanting a master to t Newark Town Records, p. 161. 



SETTLEMENT OF MR. BURR. 



155 



for the term of one year, commencing the 10th of Jan- 
nary, 173G-7, and immediately after the expiration of 
that term, viz., on the 25th of January, 1737-8,* was 
ordained after the usual trials by the Presbytery of 
East Jersey, with which the Church was then con- 
nected. Mr. Dickinson presided, and gave the charge, 
and Mr. Pierson preached. The settlement of Mr. 
Burr was a most auspicious event. " It was then a 
day of temptation and darkness in that Church," says 
a reliable authority, "but his coming soon dispersed 
the cloud which hung over them, and they in a short 
time gave him a unanimous call to the pastoral omce."f 
The early part of Mr. Burr's ministry was remarka- 



* In an extract from his Journal in the 
Memoir of Col. Burr, the date given is 
1738-9, but the Minutes of the Synod con- 
cur with the Newark Town Records, in 
assigning it to Jan. 1, 1737-8. 

t Rev. Caleb Smith's funeral sermon. 
That there was no precipitation in Mr 
Burr's settlement, as Dr. Macwhorter sup- 
poses, (see Century Sermon, p. 19,) is evi- 
dent from the length of his probation as 
above stated. His own account of the 
whole matter is contained in the following 
extract from his private journal (See 
Memoir Col. Burr, p. 19, vol. i.) "In 
September, 1736, with many fears and 
doubts about my qualifications, (being un- 
der clouds with respect to my spiritual 
state,) I offered mj self to trial, and was 
approved as a candidate for the ministry. 
My first sermon was preached at Green- 
field, and immediately after I came to the 
Jerseys. I can hardly give any account 
why I came here. After I had preached 
some time at Hanover, I had a call by the 
people of Newark, but there was scarcely 
any probability that I should suit their 
circumstances, being young in standing 
and trials. I accepted their invitation 
with a reserve, that I did not come with 
any views of settling. My labors were 



universally acceptable among them, and 
they manifested such great regard and 
love for me, that I consented to accept of 
the charge of their souls. 

"A. D. 1738-39. January the 25th I 
was set apart to the work of the ministry 
by fasting, prayer and imposition of hands. 
God grant that I may ever keep fresh in 
my mind the solemn charge that was then 
given me, and never indulge trifling 
thoughts of what then appeared to me of 
such awful importance. The ministers 
who joined in this solemn transaction 
were Mr. Dickinson, who gave the charge, 
and Mr. Pierson who preached. Mr. 
Dickinson, who presided at this work, has 
been of great service to me by his advice 
and instruction, both before and since my 
ordination." 

The Records of the Synod contain the 
.following notice, under date of May 24th, 
1738: "It is reported that Mr. Charles 
Tennent, in the Presbytery of Newcastle, 
Mr. Aaron Burr and Mr. Walter Wilmot, 
in the Presbytery of New York, were after 
the usual trial, ordained since the last 
Synod, and that they did all of them adopt 
the Westminster Confession, &c, accord- 
ing to order of this Synod." — Minutes, 
p. 135. 



156 



THE GREAT AWAKENING. 



"ble for that wonderful religious impulse which, extend- 
ing over almost the whole of our country, and consid- 
erable portions of Great Britain, has justly "been de- 
nominated " the great awakening." The mighty work 
began at Northampton and other places, as early as 
the year 1734, when Burr was yet a youth in college, 
and he had felt as we have seen, the power of God 
in it in the awakening and conversion of his own soul. 
Having entered on his work here, under a deep sense 
of his own weakness, and the most solemn impressions 
of the responsibility of his charge,* God was pleased 
to honor him as an eminent instrument in carrying 
forward his work of grace, not only among the people 
of Newark, but in other parts of the land. In a letter 
from a gentleman in New York to a friend in Glas- 
gow^ in the year 1741, he is mentioned with Gilbert 
and William Tennent, Ebenezer Pemberton and three 
others, as one of seven ministers whom " the good Lord 
hath stirred up and spirited," to water the seed sown 
by Whitefield in this region. 

Nor was it only as an Apollos watering and tending 
the plants which other men had sown, that God was 
pleased to employ him. About a year and a half after 
his ordination, in the month of August, 1739, before 
Whitefield made his first visit to this part of the coun- 
try, a remarkable revival of religion took place in this 
congregation. It began among the youth, and increas- 
ing steadily from month to month, seemed by mid- 



* Memoir Col. Burr, p. 18. agent for the Church in Scotland. (See 

t Letter from Dr. John Nichols, physi- Gillies's Hist. Col., vol viii, p. 133. 
cian in New York, to Nicholas Spence, 



REVIVAL OF RELIGION. 



157 



winter to have changed the entire face of society. The 
vices and follies which before prevailed, were univer- 
sally abandoned ; religious conversation took the place 
of social merriment, devout attention appeared in all 
their public assemblies, and a deep anxiety about their 
eternal welfare became manifest in the countenances 
of many. Early in the spring, the adult portion of the 
congregation, who had hitherto, with a few exceptions, 
remained apparently unaffected, began to feel the 
power of the same sacred influences, and " the whole 
town were brought under an uncommon concern about 
their eternal interests."* 

All this time the heavenly gift seemed confined 
wholly to Newark. In the neighboring congregation 
of Elizabethtown there was great religious insensibility. 
Whitefield had visited and preached among them dur- 
ing the autumn, and not a single known conversion 
followed his ministrations. The excellent pastor of 
the Church redoubled his efforts, but apparently to 
no purpose. " Though we had," he writes, " continual 
accounts from Newark of the growing distress among 
their people, their young people especially, our con- 
gregation remained secure and careless, and could not 

* At this juncture, Mr. Dickinson, of in New Jersey. Gal. iv : 6. And because 

Elizabethtown, preached a sermon here, ye are sons, God hath sent His Son into 

entitled: your hears, crying Abba Father. Boston, 

" The Witness of the Spirit. A Sermon N. E. Printed and sold by S. Kneeland 

preached at Newark, in New Jersey, May & T. Green, in Queen street over against 

7th, 1740, wherein is distinctly shown in the prison. 1740." 

what way and manner the Spirit himself This sermon, a copy of which is now in 

beareth witness to the adoption of the chil- possession of the writer of these dis- 

dren of God, on occasion of the wonderful courses, is eminently faithful and discrim- 

progress of converting grace in those inating, and was doubtless in the truest 

parts. By Jonathan Dickinson, M. A., sense, a Tract for the Times. The text 

minister of the Gospel at Elizabethtown, is from Romans, iii : 16. 



158 



EEVIVAL OF EELIGION. 



be awakened out of their sleep." In such a man as 
Dickinson, whose joy was doubtless unfeigned in view 
of the success with which God was crowning the efforts 
of his young brother, for whom he seems to have en- 
tertained the warmest affection, such apparent deser- 
tion of his own flock could not but have been the 
source of keen affliction. " You will easily conceive," 
he says, " that this must be an afflicting and discour- 
aging consideration to me, that when from other places 
we had the joyful news of so many flying to Christ, I 
had yet cause to complain that I labored in vain, and 
spent my strength for nought." But just as the reli- 
gious feeling in Newark began to show signs of abate- 
ment, the Divine Spirit seemed to manifest His power 
among the people of Elizabethtown. A numerous con- 
gregation of the youth of the town being assembled, 
" I preached to them," says the pastor, " a plain, prac- 
tical sermon without any special liveliness or vigor, 
for I was then in a remarkably dead and dull frame ;" 
but so deep and sudden was the impression made, that 
" the inward distress and concern of the audience dis- 
covered itself by their tears, and by an audible sob- 
bing and sighing in all parts of the assembly." About 
sixty persons gave evidence by their subsequent lives, 
of a radical change of character during this revival. 

Meanwhile the congregation at Newark had not 
been wholly deserted. Catching the sacred flame, 
from the fire which had been kindled on a neighboring 
altar, this Church experienced during the following 
winter, the winter of 1740-1, a more general and ef- 
fectual manifestation of divine influence than in the 



whitefield's fiest visit. 



159 



previous instance. Professors of religion were induced 
to examine closely the foundation of their hopes, and 
many of them became convinced that they had hith- 
erto only a name that they lived. Many converts 
were added to the number of Christ's followers, espe- 
cially among the elder class, and there seemed to be 
very few in the whole congregation who were not 
more or less sensibly affected. " There is good reason 
to conclude," says an eye-witness, " that there were a 
greater number now brought home to Christ than in 
the former gracious visitation."* This is the first 
among a long series of similar Divine visitations which 
the wastes of time have preserved to us. 

In the month of November, 1740, Whitefield made 
his first visit to Newark. At his arrival in Newport, 
Ehode Island, Mr. Burr was in that region, on a visit 
for the benefit of his health, and probably accompanied 
him to Boston. It is certain that he was in Boston 
during the visit of the famous preacher, and heard him 
preach, both in the churches and on the common, to 
thronging thousands.f About a month after Mr. 

* Gillies's Historical Collections, vol. ii, the 23d went to hear him preach in Mr. 

p. 142 etc. Webb's church, but the house was crowd- 

t Mem. of Col. Burr, p. 18. " In Novem- ed before Mr. Whitefield came. The peo- 
ber, 1839, I was on a visit to my friends pie, especially the women, were put into 
in New England, and again in March 1740. a fright, under a mistaken notion, that the 
In the following August I was in a de- galleries were falling, which caused them 
clining state of health, and by the advice to hurry out in such a violent manner that 
of my physicians visited Rhode Island, many were seriously injured, and five 
From thence I proceeded to Boston on the killed. The same day Whitefield preached 
19th of September. I heard Mr. White- at Mr. Gee's church. In the evening he 
field preach in Dr. Colman's church. I preached at Dr. Sewall's church. On Sat- 
am more and more and more pleased with urday I went to hear him in the Com- 
the man. On the 21st heard him preach mons , there were about eight thousand 
in the Commons to about ten thousand hearers. He expounded the parable of 
people. On Monday visited him, and had the Prodigal Son in a very moving man- 
some conversation to my satisfaction. On ner. Many melted into tears. On the 4th 



160 



BUER IN BOSTON. 



Burr's return, Whitefield preached to this congrega- 
tion. His own record of the fact is as follows:* 
" Kode after sermon" (he had been preaching from a 
wagon that morning on Staten Island) " to Newark. 
Preached to a considerable congregation, but with lit- 
tle influence. However at night the Lord manifested 
forth His glory. In coming down to family-prayer 
where I lodged, and perceiving many young men 
around me, my very soul was, as it were, melted down 
with concern for them. After singing, I gave a word 
of exhortation. But how did the Word fall like a 
hammer and like fire !' What a weeping was there ! 
One poor creature in particular was ready to sink into 
the earth." One of the Tennents was at this time in 
the company, and the remainder of the evening was 
spent, with Whitefield lying on the bed in great ex- 
haustion, in hearing Mr. Tennent give an account of one 
of his recent preaching excursions.f 

An incident, which probably occurred during this 
visit to Boston, and is related in a letter from a person 
in that place to a minister in Glasgow, deserves notice 
here, as illustrating Mr. Burr's character as a preacher, 
and his influence in promoting the progress of the 
great revival. A young lady of great wealth and ac- 
complishments, a favorite in all gay company, but very 

of October, being on my return to New ton, morning after morning, three or four 

Jersey, I arrived at Fairfield, where I re- thousand people hanging in breathless 

mained two days with my friends." Jour- silence on the lips of the preacher, and 

nal of A. Burr. weeping silent tears." 

Philip says, (see Life and Times of Geo. * Whitefield's Journal, p. 428. London, 

Whitefield, p. 419,) that again, in 1754, 1756. 

" President Burr accompanied him [White- f Whitefield's Journal. London edition, 

field] to New England, and saw at Bos- p. 423. 



BURR AS PASTOR. 



161 



thoughtless on the subject of religion, was passing by 
Mr. Prince's meeting-house, on her way to some cere- 
monious visit, when her attention was arrested by see- 
ing great multitudes nocking into the house ; and learn- 
ing on inquiry, that there was a lecture there that morn- 
ing, she determined to go in and see what they were 
doing. Mr. Burr " mounted the desk." Seeing noth- 
ing remarkable in his appearance, she regarded him 
with contempt, " thinking such a person could not say 
any thing worth such crowding after," and would have 
left the assembly at once, had not decency restrained 
her. " But she soon found," says the narrative, " what 
she never felt before, for the Spirit of God accompa- 
nied the word in a most powerful manner," and the 
result was a complete change in her life and character. 
She died about four or five years afterwards, in the 
triumph of faith and hope* 

As a pastor, Mr. Burr was eminently faithful and 
assiduous. Of winning manners and distinguished 
skill in finding out and opening the avenues of the 
heart, he employed his address, learning and activity for 
the promotion of the moral improvement and spiritual 
welfare of the souls committed to him. " To examine 
into the condition of his flock," says an eminent civilian 
who well knew him,f " to watch against essential er- 



* Gillie's Historical Collections, p. 828, 
329. 

+ Governor Livingston. See his Eulogy 
on the death of Mr. Burr, a copy of which 
is to be found in the Library of the Mass. 
Hist. Soc, in Boston, with the following 
title : 

"A Funeral Eulogium on the Reverend 



Mr. Aaron Burr, of New Jersey. By Wil- 
liam Livingston, Esq. 

" ' of comfort no man speak, 

Let's talk of graves, and worms, and epi- 
taphs ; 

Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes 
Write sorrow in the bosom of the earth.' 

" Shakspeare. 



11 



162 



BURR AS PASTOR. 



rors, to instruct the ignorant, to revive the disconso- 
late, to animate the penitent, to reclaim the relapsing, 
to confirm the irresolute, to humble the arrogant and 
immoral, were his constant and most delightful em- 
ployments." " He was none of those ' downy doctors' 
who soothe their hearers into delusive hopes of divine 
acceptance, or substitute external morality in the room 
of vital godliness. On the contrary, he scorned to pro- 
claim the peace of God till the rebel laid down his 
arms, and returned to his allegiance.. He was an am- 
bassador that adhered inviolably to his instructions^ 
and never acceded to a treaty that would not be rati- 
fied in the Court of Heaven. He searched the con- 
science with the terror of the law, before he assuaged 
its anguish with the balm of Gilead, or presented the 
sweet emollients of a bleeding Deity. He acted, in 
short, like one, not intrusted with the lives and for- 
tunes, but the everlasting interests of his fellow-mor- 
tals, and therefore made it his business to advance the 
divine life, and restore the beautiful image of God, dis- 
figured by the apostacy of man." 

With such personal and ministerial qualifications, 
joined with social and literary accomplishments of the 
highest order, and an example which justified the re- 
mark of the distinguished eulogist just referred to, 

" Stat sua cuique, Dies, breve et irrepara- gyrical, and somewhat inflated ; but that 

bile Tempus the estimate of character is not exagger- 

Omnibus est vitse, sed famam extendere ated, may be seen by comparing it with 

factis the plainer compositions of Caleb Smitb ; 

Hoc virtutis opus. and the writers of the obituary notices. I 

" New York, printed. Boston, reprinted know of no character concerning which all 

by Green & Russel, in Queen street, for J. the testimony more fully agrees in its ap- 

Winter, in Union street, mdcclviii." plause. 
The style of this performance is pane- 



CALL TO NEW IIAVEN. 



163 



that " what he preached in the pulpit he lived out of 
it," it is no wonder that the devotion of the people to 
their eloquent pastor was strong and fervent. 

At an early period in his ministry, Mr. Burr was so- 
licited to resign the charge of this Church, and remove 
to another field of service. Several difficulties existing 
in the First Church in New HaVen, Mr. Dickinson, it 
is said, had advised the people to end their troubles 
by settling a colleague. Accordingly, in the month 
of June, 1742, tihey presented a call to Mr. Burr to 
become their assistant pastor with the Rev. Mr. Noyes ; 
and in pursuance of this call, a committee was appoint- 
ed, with President Clap at their head, to go to Newark 
and lay the call before Mr. Burr, and prosecute it be- 
fore the Presbytery to which he belonged, with direc- 
tions likewise, " to treat with the good people of New- 
ark and obtain their consent to Mr. Burr's removal to 
New Haven." All we know of the result of this appli- 
cation is that it was unsuccessful. Probably the good 
people of Newark could not be induced, even by the 
persuasive powers of President Clap, to give their con- 
sent to a bereavement of so serious a character. In- 
deed, such was the strong and mutual attachment be- 
tween Mr. Burr and his people, as to forbid the thought 
of such a change, except under the pressure of the most 
urgent reasons. Through all his ministry there sub- 
sisted between him and them the most entire harmony. 
They regretted, it is said, even his occasional absence 
from them, " though the pulpit was not meanly sup- 
plied by another ;" for so high was their appreciation 



164 



DAVID BEAINERD. 



of his eminent services, " that they scarce conld have a 
tolerable relish for any change of spiritual fare."* 

It was in the early part of Mr. Burr's ministry, that 
David Brainerd, a name illustrious in the annals of 
piety, received ordination in the house of worship be- 
longing to this Church, as missionary to the Aborig- 
ines of our country. . Mr. Burr, with Dickinson and 
others, distressed in view of the neglected condition of 
the heathen in the very midst of them, were in corres- 
pondence with the Society in Scotland for Propagating 
Christian Knowledge, and had secured from them the 
promise to support two missionaries to labor in that 
field. Brainerd was the second person selected and 
appointed by the Society's correspondents for that 
work. We find him here on the 19th of March, 1T43 
in great spiritual distress ; but he records in his jour- 
nal, that " he had some sweetness in conversation with 
Mr. Burr, and in praying together," and exclaims, in 
view of the privilege, " O blessed be God for any en- 
livening and quickening seasons."f Brainerd had been 
expelled from college, where his standing as a scholar 
would otherwise have entitled him to the first honors 
of his class, for what must now be acknowledged to 
have been only a trifling indiscretion. As commence- 
ment approached, the anticipation of the scene was very 
oppressive to him. His friends made every exertion 
to have him restored, and Mr. Burr, commissioned by 
his associates in the Indian mission, made a journey to 
New Haven for the express purpose. But though 

* Funeral sermon by Rev. Caleb Smith. t Edwards' Works, vol. x, p. 69. New 

York edition. 



beainerd's ordination. 



165 



Brainerd had prepared and offered a most humble 
confession, lamenting his fault, and seeking forgiveness, 
the authorities of the College were inflexible, and his 
degree was denied him, except on the condition of his 
remaining in college another year, which he could not 
do without breaking up all his plans of missionary ser- 
vice. 

Mr. Brainerd came to Newark on the 29th of May, 
1744, and spent about two weeks here, and at Eliza- 
bethtown, and in New York. The Presbytery met at 
Newark, on the 11th of June, and in the afternoon of 
that day, the young candidate preached his probation 
sermon, from Acts xxvi: 17, 18. "Delivering thee 
from the people and the Gentiles," &c. The next day 
at ten o'clock, having passed through his trials with 
universal approbation, he was set apart to the work of 
the ministry, and Mr. Pemberton, of New York, 
preached the ordination sermon, from Lukexiv: 23. 
"And the Lord said, Go out into the highways and 
hedges, and compel them to come in," &c. 

These facts deserve notice, both because the pre- 
cious name of this sainted missionary should be cher- 
ished as a sweet odor in every Church whose history is 
connected with his memory, and because the connec- 
tion of Brainerd with Burr and his associates had an 
assignable influence on the subsequent course of affairs 
in this congregation.* 

About the time of Mr. Burr's ordination, some 



* I refer particularly to the establish- the prime of life, and removal to Prince- 
ment of the College in Newark; the mar- ton; the ministry of John Brainerd, &c. 
riage of Mr. Burr, and his dismission in 



166 PRESBYTERY OF NEW YORK FORMED. 

changes took place in the external relations of the 
Church. The large and flourishing Presbytery of East 
Jersey was increased still further by the addition of 
the small Presbytery of Long Island, which had be- 
come so reduced, as to be unable to maintain advan- 
tageously its separate existence, and received the new 
designation of the Presbytery of New York. With 
this body so denominated, the Church continued in 
connection during seventy-one years* 

At the same meeting of the Synod, namely, in 1^38, 
several Churches previously belonging to the Presby- 
tery of East Jersey were detached from it, and with 
some others taken from that of Philadelphia, erected 
into a new body, under the name of the Presbytery of 
ISTew Brunswick. It was composed chiefly, if not 
wholly, of men warmly engaged in promoting the 
great revival already spoken of ; and being formed into 
a separate body, they began to prosecute with great 
vigor the plans and methods by which that remarka- 
ble movement was characterized.f These proceedings 
had an important influence upon the course of affairs 
which we must now proceed to consider. 

The period of Mr. Burr's ministy was distinguished 
by an event sadly memorable in the history of the 
Presbyterian Church, and to which his relations and 



* See Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- 
phia, p. 134. 

+ Whitefield says, under date of Nov. 
25, 1739 : " It happens very providentially 
that Mr. Tennent and his brethren are ap- 
pointed to be a Presbytery by the Synod, 
so that they intend breeding up gracious 
youth and sending them out from time to 



time into our Lord's vineyard." (Journal, 
p. 281.) It was even rumored, at one 
time, that Whitefield had a plan to bring 
out young preachers from England, and 
have them ordained by this Presbytery, in 
order to supplant those pastors of churches 
whose piety and ministerial zeal he re- 
garded as deficient. 



THE GREAT SCHISM. 



167 



those of the Presbytery to wliich this Church belonged, 
were such as to reflect the highest honor on their wis- 
dom and piety. I refer to what has been denominated 
the great schism. The revival of religion before re- 
ferred to, had both given rise to a new system of 
measures in the Churches which had felt its power, 
and created an obvious necessity for a more copious 
supply of ministers than could be readily obtained in 
the existing state of learning and piety in the country. 
The consequence was that some serious irregularities 
disturbed the order of the Church, and some men were 
introduced into the sacred office, whose proficiency in 
learning did not correspond with their zeal and fer- 
vency. To those who were not in full sympathy with 
the movement, these evils gave serious offence, and 
furnished both the occasion and the pretext for oppos- 
ing in some instances, the work itself. In the year 
1737, an act was passed in the Synod restricting itine- 
rant preaching, and prohibiting the members of one 
Presbytery to preach within the bounds of another 
without an explicit permission. In the year following, 
the Synod enacted that no Presbytery should ordain 
or license any candidate for the ministy, who could 
not furnish a diploma from some European or New 
England College, without first subjecting him to an 
examination with respect to his scholarship, before a 
commission of the Synod. As these regulations, how- 
ever proper in themselves, had the effect to counteract 
the most efficient measures which had been resorted to 
by the friends of the revival, and were supposed by 
them to be designed for that purpose, they of course 



168 



CAUSES OF THE SCHISM. 



regarded them with great repugnance. Some modifi- 
cation were made, but the opponents of the restric- 
tions were not satisfied. The Presbytery of New 
Brunswick, in which the influence of the Messrs. 
Tennent was prominent, threw themselves "back upon 
their reserved rights, and the old controversy on Mr. 
Gillespie's overture, so happily settled in 1722, by the 
adoption of Mr. Dickinson's articles, was in a measure 
revived. Alleging conscientious objections to the acts 
of the Synod, this Presbytery claimed the legal right 
not to be bound by them, and thereupon actually pro- 
ceeded to grant licenses to one or more candidates 
without the required examination. Matters went on 
in this way — the irritation all the while becoming 
greater, and the breach between the two parties wider 
and wider — till the year 1741, when the advocates of 
the restrictions, weary of opposition, determined on 
settling the whole affair in a summary manner, by the 
ejection of their refractory brethren. A long and se- 
vere protest was introduced into the Synod, in which 
the authors of it, declaring themselves "grieved at our 
very hearts with the dreadful divisions, distractions 
and convulsions which all of a sudden have seized this 
infant Church," of which all they say, their protesting 
brethren, that is the New Brunswick Presbytery and 
their associates, were the " direct and proper cause, by 
their unwearied, unscriptural, anti-presbyterial, unchar- 
itable and abusive practices," proceed to assert in the 
most formal and solemn manner, that these brethren 
have no right to be considered members of that body, 
on account of " principles and practices which render 



ATTEMPTS AT MEDIATION. 



160 



all union with them in ecclesiastical matters monstrous 
and absurd ;" and to declare further, that if these 
brethren shall still be allowed to sit and act, " what- 
soever shall be done, voted or transacted by them con- 
trary to our judgment, shall be of no force or obliga- 
tion to us, being done or acted by a judicatory, consist- 
ing in part of members who have no authority to act 
with us in ecclesiastical matters."'"" All this while, it 
must be remembered, the accused party had had no 
trial, and not one of the charges on the ground of 
which they were thus declared out of the pale of the 
Presbyterian Church had been legally proved. On a 
trial of strength, the adherents to the party thus pro- 
testing being found to be in the majority, the minority 
were compelled to withdraw. 

The members of the Presbytery of New York were 
all absent when these violent proceedings took place. 
But the next year they made their appearance in the 
Synod, and, with that noble champion of truth and 
right, Jonathan Dickinson, at their head, commenced 
a vigorous effort to heal the melancholy breach. A 
conference was proposed and ordered, but the question 
now arose, who should be the judges in the case. The 
ejected members insisted on excluding all who signed 
the offensive protest, which would throw the power of 
deciding mainly into the hands of the New York Pres- 
bytery. The protesting brethren would neither allow 
the ejected members nor the absentees of the last year 

* This protest, which is too long to be a long series of mutual irritations, may 
inserted here, is a singular proof of the carry even good men. Its language is in 
extent to which party spirit, influenced by the highest degree harsh and vituperative. 



l'TO NEW YORK PEESBYTERY PROTEST 



to act ill the matter, insisting that they themselves 
were the Synod when they adopted the protest, and 
had acted as such, and would be called to account, 
neither by absent members nor by any judicature on 
earth. One of their number declared his judgment in 
favor of submitting to a review in the Synod as now 
met, but whether he intended the ejected members 
should be admitted to a vote in that review, his re- 
corded opinion does not affirm. 

Finding all attempts to secure a reconsideration 
ineffectual, the New York members now entered their 
solemn protest against the whole transaction, as illegal, 
unprecedented, " contrary to the rules of the Gospel, 
and subversive of our excellent constitution ;" declar- 
ing, moreover that " the excluded members ought to 
be owned and esteemed as members of the Synod, un- 
til they are excluded by a regular and impartial pro- 
cess against them, according to the methods presented 
in Sacred Scripture, and practiced by the Churches of 
the Presbyterian persuasion." This protest they de- 
sired should be recorded in the minutes for a perpet- 
ual memorial ISTor did they stop with this. Very 
earnestly did this noble body of men, constituting the 
flower of the whole Synod, labor for reconciliation. 
That the party who had been ejected were wrong 
in many respects, they freely acknowledged. They 
were by no means disposed to justify their disorderly 
intrusions into other congregations than their own, 
their censorious judgments of the spiritual state of men 
of unimpeached standing in the Church, and especially 
their refusal to submit to the regulations of the Synod 



AND REMONSTRANCE. 



1U 



in respect to the examination of candidates for the 
ministry * But they had strong sympathy with them 
as men zealous for the promotion of living piety ; they 
believed the right was on their side in the matter now 
immediately in contest ; and could not allow them to 
be censured by the highest judicatory of the Church, 
much less ejected from its membership, without the 
process of a legal trial. At a meeting convened in 
JSewark, in the Spring of 1743, they presented a very 
able and temperate paper, kindly but faithfully ex- 
pressing their views of what was wrong in both parties, 
urging a reconciliation, and proposing as a last resort, 
that another Synod should be created by a mutual 
agreement ; so that all the members having free per- 
mission to choose between the two bodies, both parties 
might be able to labor in their spheres for the com- 
mon cause, and be at the same time on friendly rela- 

* The following extract, furnished me to run into at the present day that we ought 

by the kindness of Rer. Richard Webster, not to encourage : 1. Tbjjir being led by 

from a letter of Mr. Burr to Dr. Bellamy, impressions and impulses made on their 

shows the cautious wisdom with which minds with or without a text of Scripture, 

this class of men were accustomed to and taking their own passions and imagin- 

watch every evil tendency which they dis- ations for the operations of God's Spirit, 

covered mingling itself with the great re- 2. Giving heed to visions, trances and rev- 

ligious movement of the age : elations. 3. Speaking of divine things 

"June 28, 1742, Beloved Brother — I with an air of levity, vanity, laughter, &c. 

have so many things lying on my mind 4. Declaring their judgment about others 

that I know not how to communicate openly and freely in their absence, wheth- 

them with pen and ink. I long to have er they are converted or not. 5. Making 

you alone a few hours, that I might un- their own feelings a rule to judge others 

bosom myself freely ; but 'tis good to have by. 6. For laymen to take upon them to 

no will of our own. 'Tis glad tidings of exhort in a public assembly. 7. Separa- 

great joy we hear from Southberry. But ting from their minister under a notion of 

some things that I have heard from there his being unconverted. . . Things with us 

I don't see through, which in some meas- are much as when I saw you. I have had 

lire damps my joy. The bearer has given a few intervals of nearness to God, but 

me more satisfaction. Glory be to God, alas! how short. . But Oh, how sweet and 

that He carries on His work in any way, pleasant. ' Let Him kiss me with the 

I do rejoice, and will rejoice. However, kisses of His mouth, for His love is sweeter 

there are some things that persons are apt than wine.' " 



172 



SEPAKATION CONSUMMATED. 



tions. But here again their efforts failed. The ejected 
brethren would listen to no terms till the illegal protest 
should be withdrawn. The members of the other party 
would make none which do not include satisfaction 
for the past, promises of amendment for the future, 
and an undoing of all that had been done contrary to 
their judgment. On these conditions alone would 
they allow the ejected brethren to take a seat in "our 
Synod ;" and as to the mutual agreement to form a 
new one, that would be, they judged, to perpetuate 
schism, and therefore could not be done. 

The proposals of the Presbytery of New York being 
thus unanimously rejected, another paper was presented, 
signed by four ministers, of whom Mr. Burr was one, in 
which they declared that while they had no unbroth- 
erly treatment from the Synod to complain of in rela- 
tion to themselves, they could not consent to sit and 
act as the Synod of Philadelphia, while the members 
of the New Brunswick Presbytery and their adherents, 
who were as truly members of the Synod as themselves, 
were denied a seat in it. 

The next year all the members of the New York 
Presbytery were absent. Some further efforts were 
made to bring about an agreement, either to renew 
the union, or separate on terms deemed equitable by 
both the parties; but these proving ineffectual, the 
Presbytery of New York having determined to make 
common cause with the aggrieved party, united with 
the two Presbyteries into which the former Presby- 
tery of New Brunswick had now grown, and founded 
in the month of September, 1745, the Synod of New 



SYNOD OF NEW YORK FORMED. 



York.* This Synod held its first meeting at Eliza- 
bethtown, and chose for its first Moderator, the Kev. 
Jonathan Dickinson. Tims was consummated the 
First Great Schism in the Presbyterian Church. 

* Minutes, p. 232. The Presbyteries " 3. If any menber of their body sup- 
composing the new Synod were those of poses that he hath any thing to object 
New York, New Brunswick and New Cas- against any of his brethren with respect to 
tie. Of the Presbytery of New York were error in doctrine, immorality in life, or 
present the following ministers : Messrs. negligence in his ministry, he shall not 
Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Eben- on any account propagate the scandal 
ezer Pemberton, Simon Horton, Aaron until the person objected against is dealt 
Burr, Azariah Horton, Timothy Jones, with according to the rules of the Gos- 
Eliab Byram, Robert Sturgeon. The pel and the known method of their disci- 
platform on which it established itself is pline. 

as follows : "4. They agree that all who have a com- 
petent degree of ministerial knowledge, 

"The ministers and elders before men- are ortllodox in their doctrine, regular in 

tioned, first considered and agreed upon their lives> and d ii igen t i n their endeavors 

the following articles, as the plan and to promo t e the important designs of vital 

foundation of their Synodical union: godliness, and that will submit to their 

"1. They agree that the Westminster discipline, shall be cheerfully admitted 

Confession of Faith, with the Larger and into their communion. 

Shorter Catechisms, be the public con- " And they do also agree that in order 

fession of their faith, in such manner as to avoid all divisive methods among their 

was agreed unto by the Synod of Phila- ministers and congregations, and to 

delphia in the year 1729, and to be inserted strengthen the discipline of Christ in the 

in the latter end of this book. And they Churches in these parts, they will main, 

declare their approbation of the Directory tain a correspondence with the Synod of 

of the Assembly of Divines at Westmin- Philadelphia, in this their first meeting, 

ster as the general plan of worship and by appointing two of their members to 

discipline. meet with the said Synod of Philadelphia, 

" 2. They agree that in matters of dis- at their next convention, and to concert 

Cipline, and those things that relate to the with them such measures as may best 

peace and good order of our Churches, promote the precious interests of Christ's 

they shall be determined according to the kingdom in these parts, 

major vote of ministers and elders, with "And that they may in no respect en- 

which vote every member shall actively courage any factious separating practices 

concur or pacifically acquiesce; but if any or principles, they agree that they will 

member cannot in conscience agree to the not intermeddle with judically hearing 

determination of the majority, but sup- the complaints, or with supplying with 

poses himself obliged to act contrary ministers and candidates such parties of 

thereunto, and the Synod think themselves men as shall separate from any Presbyte- 

obliged to insist upon it as essentially ne- rian or Congregational Churches that are 

cessary to the well-being of our Churches, not within their bounds, unless the matters 

in that case, such dissenting member of controversy be submitted to their juris- 

promises peaceably to withdraw from the diction or advice by both parties," 

body, without endeavoring to raise any At the same meeting they prepared and 

dispute or contention upon the debated adopted "a testimony to the work of God's 

point, or any unjust alienation of affection glorious grace, which has been carried on 

from them. in these parts of the land." Minutes, pp. 

232-3. 



174 



OLD SIDE AND NEW SIDE. 



Two distinct "bodies now existed side by side, hold- 
ing the same doctrine and the same platform of Chnrch 
government, free to rival each other in their operations 
on the same field, and having no other connection than 
that of an occasional more or less friendly correspond- 
ence. They were called, and had been from the be- 
ginning of their divisions, in the current language of 
the day, the Old Side and the New Side. The Old 
Side were still the Synod of Philadelphia, and the 
New Side formed the Synod of New York. As snch 
they remained separate till the year 1758, a period of 
thirteen years. 

With the history of this Chnrch, at the period now 
nnder review, are connected the organization and the 
early fortunes of the College of New J ersey. 

This institution, like most of our most eminent lit- 
erary institutions, owes its origin entirely to religions 
considerations, and grew out of the religions necessities 
of the times and circumstances to which we have just 
referred. From the first settlement of the Province, the 
want of an adequate supply of well qualified ministers 
had been bitterly felt in this region.* The dependence 
of the Churches was, chiefly, on the two Colleges of New 
England, together with such individuals as might emi- 
grate from Europe after completing their education. 
To meet this deficiency, the venerable William Ten- 
nent, senior, established under his own care, at Ne- 

* The letters of the early Scotch settlers the encouragement of the Plantation, is 
speak of this deficiency more than once, [that] you would be instrumental to send 
James Johnstone, of Spotswoode, in his us over some ministers, who, I dare en- 
letter to his brother, John Johnstone, gage, shall ever after be thankful," &c. 
druggist in Edinburgh, Dec. 12, 1784, said, Model of the Government, Whitehead, p. 
" What I most earnestly desire of you, for 299. 



COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. 



U5 



shammy, a classical and theological school, which ob- 
tained, from the building in which it was kept, the 
name of the "Log College."* The supposed inade- 
quacy of the instruction received in that institution, 
together with the views and feelings which marked its 
spirit and distinguished the preachers who came forth 
from it, was undoubtedly one of the causes of the jeal- 
ousy which ended in the disruption of the Presbyte- 
rian Church. As the scenes of the great revival 
passed along, and the necessity of more numerous and 
more fervent preachers to meet the wants of the peo- 
ple on the one hand, and the mischiefs of employing 
men of inadequate qualifications on the other, became 
more and more apparent, the two parties were contin- 
ually reproaching each other, the one complaining of 
deficient piety, and the other of deficient education in 
their candidates introduced into the Gospel ministry. 

To meet the difficulty, some efforts had been made 
in the Synod before the separation, to establish a liter- 
ary institution adequate to the wants of the times. An 
overture to that effect was introduced in the year 1739, 
and a committee, consisting of Messrs. Pemberton, 
Dickinson, Cross and Andrews, were appointed, with 
directions that two of their number should be sent to 
Europe to prosecute the affair, if possible, and if it should 
be necessary, that Mr. Pemberton should go to Boston 
" pursuant to this design." This committee entered 

* Log College, by Dr. Archibald Alexan- broad, and to me it seemed to resemble 

der, p. 14. Whitefield, in his journal, p. the schools of the old prophets." In a 

2S0, under date of November, 1739, speaks note he adds in 1756: " This is now in- 

of this school as follows : "It is a log house, creased to a large College now erecting in 

about twenty feet long, and near as many the New Jerseys." 



176 0KIGIN OF THE COLLEGE. 

upon their work, and laid out plans for its prosecution, 
"but the war breaking out," say the minutes, "be- 
tween England and Spain, the calling of the Synod 
was omitted, and the whole affair was laid aside for 
that time." It was resumed subsequently, and an in- 
stitution founded, but it never rose above the dignity 
of an academy. 

Immediately after the separation, the Synod of New 
York, who were certainly no less deeply sensible than 
their brethren of the value of education, finding the 
school at JSTeshaminy in a state of decline, began to 
take measures for the institution of a College within 
their own boundaries. One of the motives which 
urged on the design is said to have been the ill treat- 
ment which the devoted Brainerd received at Yale, 
aided perhaps by the dissatisfaction shown by the offi- 
cers of that institution towards the ministers who now 
composed the Synod, for having ordained David 
Brainerd after they had expelled him from their Col- 
lege. Indeed, it is asserted, on the authority of very 
direct tradition, as a remark of Mr. Burr, that " if it 
had not been for the treatment received by Mr. Brain- 
erd at Yale College, New Jersey College never would 
have been erected."* 

The germ out of which the College ultimately grew, 
was planted at Elizabethtown, under the care of the 
Bev. Jonathan Dickinson. This distinguished divine 
and scholar — the leader of his party in the old Synod, 
and the first moderator of the new — having been ac- 



* Log College, by Dr. Alexander, p. 127. 



FIRST CHARTER. 177 

customed, as is supposed, for several years, to carry on, 
in connection with, the duties of his ministry, a school 
for instruction in classical studies, had at this time 
under his care, a considerable number of young men 
who were pursuing a regular course of liberal educa- 
tion. Measures were accordingly adopted, as soon as 
practicable, to obtain a charter, and erect this school 
into a college. Such a charter was granted, and passed 
the great seal of the Province of New Jersey, under 
the administration of John Hamilton, President of His 
Majesty's Council, and officiating as Governor after the 
decease of Governor Morris, on the 2 2d of October, 
1746.* The persons to whom it was granted were 
Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pember- 
ton and Aaron Burr, ministers of the Gospel, and 
some others, probably in part laymen, whose names I 
have not been able to ascertain ; and the name of the 
institution so incorporated was " The College of ~New 
Jersey." The trustees thus empowered and encour- 
aged, lost no time in carrying the worthy purpose into 
execution. On the 9th of February following, they 
notified the public of their appointment through the 
press, declaring their intention to open the College 
during the Spring, some time in May at latest, and in- 
viting applications for admission from all persons duly 
qualified by their studies. Before the end of April 

* The following extract from the State this Province of New Jersey tested bj 

Records at Trenton, is published by Dr. John Hamilton, Esq., President of His 

Green, in the notes to his Discourses, p. Majesty's Council, and Commander-in- 

283. chief of the Province of New Jersey, the 

"Mem. of a charter for a college. A 22d of October, 1746." The charter itself 

charter to incorporate sundry persons to never was recorded, 
found a college passed the great seal of 

12 



PEESIDENT DICKINSON. 



they published another notification, fixing the time 
and place of opening, and making known to the public 
the formal appointment of the Rev. Jonathan Dickin- 
son as President of the intended institution.* There 
can be no reasonable doubt that the College was actually- 
organized during the last week in May, 1747, at Eliza- 
bethtown, and that Mr. Dickinson having accepted the 
appointment, then and there entered upon the duties of 
his office. But these fair and hopeful beginnings were 
destined to a speedy disappointment. President Dick- 
inson officiated in his new station only four months and 
a-half, when he was seized with a pleuritic disease, and 
died on the 7th of October, 1747, in the 60th year of 
his age.f The unanticipated event disconcerted the 



* The notification, which is to be found 
in the "New York Gazette, revived in 
the weekly Post Boy," under date of Feb- 
ruary 9th and February 16th, 1746-7, is as 
follows : 

"Whereas, a charter with full and am- 
ple privileges, has been granted by His 
Majesty, under the seal of the Province of 
New Jersey, bearing date the 22d of Oc- 
tober, 1746, for erecting a college within 
the said Province, to Jonathan Dickinson, 
John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton and 
Aaron Burr, ministers of the Gospel, and 
some other gentlemen, as Trustees of the 
said college, by which charter equal liber- 
ties and privileges are secured to every 
denomination of Christians, any different 
religious sentiments notwithstanding. The 
said Trustees have therefore thought proper 
to inform the public that they design to 
open the said College the next spring, and 
notify any person or persons who are qual- 
ified by preparatory learning for admis- 
sion, that some time in May next at latest, 
they may be there admitted to an academ- 
ical education." 

The following is from the same paper, 
under date of April 27th, 1747 : 

" This is to inform the public that tha 



Trustees of the College of New Jersey 
hare appointed the Rev. Mr. Dickinson 
President of the said college, which will 
be opened the fourth week in May next, 
at Elizabethtown, at which time and place 
all persons suitably qualified may be ad- 
mitted to academic education." 

This notice is inserted in each success- 
ive paper up to the 25th of May, when it 
ceases to appear. 

t The following obituary notice, which 
I find in the New York Gazette and Week- 
ly Post Boy, under date of Oct. 12th, 1747, 
illustrates the character of this distin- 
guished man whose name has been so of- 
ten mentioned in connection with this his- 
tory, and whose influence was so impor- 
tant and valuable over the course of af- 
fairs in this congregation. 

"Elizabethtown in New Jersey, Oct. 10. 

" On Wednesday morning last, about 4 
o'clock, died here of a pleuritic illness, 
that eminently learned, faithful and pious 
minister of the Gospel, and President of 
the College of New Jersey, the Rev. Mr. 
Jonathan Dickinson, in the 60th year of 
his age, who had been pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church in this town for near- 
ly forty years, and was the glory and joy 



STUDENTS REMOVED TO NEWARK. 



179 



plans, caused an abrupt suspension of the infant 
enterprise, and led subsequently as we shall see here- 
after, to a new organization, on a new and independ- 
ent basis. On the decease of Mr. Dickinson, the pupils, 
eight in number, were removed to Newark, and placed 
under the care and instruction of Mr. Burr* He, 
like Dickinson, had been in the habit of instructing in 
the classic languages, and as early as 1746 had under 
his direction a large Latin school. After receiving 
Mr. Dickinson's students, he still continued the charge 
of his own, employing one or more assistants, as he 
had before been accustomed to do, and the school 
went on in this undefined shape, probably without the 
appointment of another president on the part of the 
trustees of the College, about the space of a year. 



of it. In him conspicuously appeared 
those natural and acquired moral and spir- 
itual endowments which constitute a truly 
excellent and valuable man, a good scholar, 
an eminent divine, and a serious devout 
Christian. He was greatly adorned with 
the gifts and graces of his Heavenly Mas- 
ter, in the light whereof he appeared as a 
star of superior brightness and influence 
in the orb of the Church, which has sus- 
tained a great and unspeakable loss in his 
death. He was of uncommon and very 
extensive usefulness. He boldly appeared 
in the defence of the great and important 
truths of our most holy religion and the 
Gospel doctrines of the free and sovereign 
grace of God. He was a zealous promoter 
of godly practice and godly living, and a 
bright ornament to his profession. In 
times and cases of difficulty he was a 
ready, wise and able counsellor. By his 
death our infant college is deprived of the 
benefit and advantage of his superior ac- 
complishments, which afforded a favorable 
prospect of its future flourishing and pros- 
perity under his inspection. His remains 
were decently interred here yesterday, 



when the Rev. Mr. Pierson, of Woodbridge, 
preached his funeral sermon, and as he 
lived desired of all so never any person in 
these parts died more lamented. Our 
fathers where are they and the prophets, 
do they live forever?" 

* The number has been heretofore stated 
at about twenty. Such is the statement 
of Dr. Green, p. 296. He took his esti. 
mate from the fact, that according to the 
catalogue, nineteen persons took their first 
degrees within four years from the date of 
the removal. But it is too much to as. 
sume that all the graduates of the first 
three classes had been under the care of 
Mr. Dickinson. Nothing is more com- 
mon than admission to advanced stand- 
ing, even in well established colleges. 
Thus in March, 1750, the three classes of 
1751, '52, and '53, contained only twenty- 
five students, yet the number of graduates 
in those classes amounted to thirty-one. 
See letter to Joseph Shippen, and compare- 
triennial catalogue. The estimate above; 
given is on the authority of Mr. Burr's 
obituary, and may I presume, be relied 
upon. 



180 



GOVERNOE BELCHER. 



But the noble design of establishing a College on an 
adequate and permanent foundation had not been 
abandoned. The same year in which Mr. Dickinson 
died, and not far from the same date, that distinguished 
patron of learning and religion, Jonathan Belcher, as- 
sumed the government of the Province.* The infant 
seminary immediately engaged his attention, and se- 
cured his most cordial encouragement. As early as 
the 31st of May, 1748, we find him in correspondence 
with President Edwards, from whom he had before 
that date received a communication respecting it.f 
Deploring the religious errors which he fears are gain- 
ing ground in the New England Colleges, " in destruc- 
tion of the doctrines of free grace," and commending 
the new enterprise, which he denominates an embryo 
college, as a a noble design, and destined, if God 
pleases, to prove an extensive blessing," he says : " I 
iave adopted it as a daughter, and hope it may in 
time become an alma mater to this and the neighbor- 
fcoring Provinces." He was at that time getting ad- 
¥ice and assistance in the draught of a " charter," and, 
expressing his cordial thanks to the illustrious New 
England theologian for his kind hints, promises, like 
Mary, " to keep all these things, and ponder them in 
Ms heart," adding the assurance that so far as God 
should enable him, he would exert himself in every 

* Governor Belcher arrived in New Jer- Governor- in- chief of the Province of New 

sey about the end of the summer of 1747. Jersey, to the Council and General Assem- 

The New York Gazette and Post Boy, un. bly of said Province, on Thursday, the 

isT date of August 81st, contains a notice 20th of August, 1747." 

af " The Speeeh of His Excellency, Jona- t Life of President Edwards. Works, 

&an Belcher, Esq., Captain General and vol. i, p. 267, ed. New York, 1830. 



NEW CHARTEK. 



181 



way to bring the College to maturity. Smith, in his 
history of New Jersey, speaks of the charter given by 
Governor Belcher as an enlargement of the old one, 
but both its history and its terms indicate the con- 
trary. It is in all respect an original document, con- 
taining other privileges, and conferred upon a new 
selection of trustees. No former charter was recog- 
nized in it, and the probability is, that although the 
former charter had been accepted and acted upon for 
a time, and though the Trustees in announcing that 
fact to the public, were free to denominate it " a char- 
ter with full and ample privileges," yet the hopes 
raised by the accession of Governor Belcher to the 
chair of office, a friend of the Presbyterians beyond all 
who had preceded him in that station, had induced 
them on the decease of President Dickinson, to let the 
old charter fall into disuse, in order to try what might 
be accomplished by a new beginning. The procedure^ 
whatever may have been its character and motives, 
did not give universal satisfaction. It is well known 
that the change of men to whom the power of direct- 
ing the College was intrusted — some who had been 
named in the old charter or elected under it, being left 
out, and others, among whom were the governors of 
the Province for the time being ex-officio, introduced, 
was such as to give great offence to some of the earliest 
promoters of the enterprise, and one of them at least, 
Gilbert Tennant, was for a considerable time resolved 
to have nothing to do with the undertaking.* 

The charter which Governor Belcher prepared, and 

* Edwards' Workg vol. i, p. 275. 



182 



COLLEGE RE-OKGANIZED. 



under winch the College was at length re-organized, 
and now flourishes, was granted in the month of Sep- 
tember, 1748. A small majority of the trustees named 
in it, convened at New Brunswick, on the 13th of Oc- 
tober, and, having accepted the charter, and chosen a 
clerk, the president of the board bemg absent, adopted 
an address of thanks to Governor Belcher, which had 
been drawn up by Mr. Burr, and adjourned to meet 
.at Newark during the following month. 

The organization of the College thus incorporated, 
took place at Newark, in the house of worship belong- 
ing to this congregation, on Wednesday, the 9th day 
of November, 1748, of which a full account I under- 
stand is preserved in the College records.* The Gov- 
ernor, who was ex-officio president of the board oi 
trustees, and several other members not present at the 
preliminary meeting, having been qualified, the clerk 
certified that he had duly notified every member of 
the corporation, "and then took the oath of office as 
the charter requires." Thereupon the Rev. Aaron 
Burr was unanimously chosen President of the College, 
and the vote of the trustees being made known to 
him, says the record, " he was pleased modestly to 
accept the same," and took the oath of office required 
by the charter. A class of seven young men, namely, 
Enos Ayres, Benjamin Chestnut, Hugo Henry, Israel 
Reed, Richard Stockton, and Daniel Thane, all but 
one of whom afterwards became ministers of the Gos- 
pel and he one of New Jersey's most distinguished 
jurists, having already completed their studies and 

* Discourses of Dr. Green, note, p. 301. 



FIRST COMMENCEMENT. 



183 



been examined and approved as qualified to receive 
their first degree, it was voted, that a the Commence- 
ment for graduating the candidates go on this day." 

To the people of this congregation, that day must 
have been one of intense interest, and those who can 
remember how important an event was even an ordi- 
nary Commencement in the quiet villages of former 
days, may imagine the profound excitement which 
must have prevailed here, when the hopes cherished 
for years by the best men being at length realized, 
the people saw a well chartered college spring into 
being in the midst of them, and their own beloved and 
almost idolized pastor placed at the head of it, and 
presiding with princely grace and dignity over the 
■distribution of its first honors. 

The exercises of the occasion commenced in the fore- 
noon, with prayer by the President, and publicly 
reading the charter in the meeting-house. In the af- 
ternon, the President delivered a "handsome and ele- 
gant Latin oration," and the students having performed 
their parts in the " customary scholastic disputations," 
received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His Ex- 
cellency "was pleased to accept of a degree of Mas- 
ter of Arts," and then after a salutatory oration pro- 
nounced by Mr. Thane, the whole was concluded with 
prayer by the President. The evening was spent by 
the trustees in adopting a code of laws for the College, 
and making arrangements for its future stability and 
advancement. 

Thus was the College of New Jersey, after long ex- 
ertions and hopes deferred, at length brought to a full 



184 



BURR AS PRESIDENT. 



and permanent organization. Hitherto it had existed 
rather in purpose than in realization — in noble efforts 
frustrated at the very moment of attainment, and re- 
quiring to be attempted anew. Here, however, it had 
reached a point from which there was to be no re 
ceding ; and its progress has been from that time con- 
tinually onward. The illustrious Dickinson, who stood 
foremost in the incipient measures which resulted in its 
establishment, and for a few months presided over it 
in its incipient or tentative stage, deserves the highest 
place on its escutcheon, as its projector and father. 
But considered as a permanent institution, established 
upon a legal basis, the organization to which I have 
referred was doubtless its true beginning ; and of this 
institution, so established, Aaron Burr must be allowed 
to have been the first President * 

* The writer is by no means disposed upon the duties of his office during the 

to detract in the least degree from the last week in May of that year The writer 

credit due to the distinguished man whose hopes he may have contributed something 

name, with an affectionate reverence which to fix that honored name in Its place by a 

cannot forego the honor of such a name, is more satisfactory tenure, 

placed in the College catalogue as the first Still, however, it is due to another name 

in the series of its Presidents. It was not a whit the less worthy of honor, that 

placed there, as he understands, on the the relation of each to an institution of 

authority of tradition only. Dr. Green which our country is justly proud, should 

says of that period of the College history : be accurately stated. The representation 

"Who were the trustees named in that given above is the only one which will 

charter, or appointed under it, when or harmonize the somewhat discordant testis 

where they met, or at what time and in monies which have been given respecting 

what manner Mr. Dickinson was appoint- the origin of the College, 

ed, cannot now be known, and it is useless It is worthy of remark, that the Rev. 

to conjecture." The pamphlet entitled Caleb Smith, the son-in-law of Mr. Dick- 

" History of the College of New Jersey, inson, his pupil in divinity, and assistant 

by a Graduate," takes the same ground, in the instruction of that very classical 

and makes the same representation. But school out of the College grew, is perfect- 

the extracts given above, from the New ly silent in regard to the fact of his Presi- 

York Post Boy, supply in a good measure dency, both in his sermon at the funeral of 

the deficient evidence, and enable us to Mr. Burr, and his preface to Mr. Burr's ser- 

affirm that Mr. Dickinson was appointed mon on the death of Gov. Belcher, which 

some time between the 16th of February led him to speak of the history of the in- 

and the 27th of April, 1747, and entered stitution. Mr. Burr himself is equally si- 



BURR AS PRESIDENT. 



185 



The College remained in Newark after its organiza- 
tion about eight years, during the first seven of which 
Mr. Burr officiated as its President, in connection with 
his duties as pastor of this Church. During the first 
three years of his Presidency he had no salary except 
what he received, as before, from the congregation of 
which he was pastor. But though the embarrassments 
of his situation were discouraging, no buildings having 
as yet been erected for the accommodation of the Col- 
lege,* the students being dispersed in private families, 
the public academical exercises generally performed in 
the County Court House,f and the circumstances in 
many respects exceedingly unfavorable to the moral 
habits and literary improvement of the young men ; 



lent in the sermon just referred to. The 
tombstone of Mr. Dickinson, where a great 
man is apt to bear all his honors, simply 
speaks of him as the pastor of the Presby- 
terian Church in Elizabethtown. All the 
contemporary notices which speak of him 
as President, are of the most ephemeral 
and casual sort. On the other hand, Gov. 
Belcher is repeatedly applauded, in the 
most formal and official manner, as the 
founder of the College ; and yet Governor 
Belcher could have had no connection with 
it during Mr. Dickinson's life, as he came 
into the Province only a few weeks previous 
to his decease. President Finley, in his 
history of the College, published by order 
of the Trustees, in 1764, to which, says Dr- 
Green, quoting the words from Johnson, 
" regard is to be paid as to the narrative of 
one who writes what he knows, and what 
is known likewise <• multitudes besides," 
speaks expressly of Mr. President Burr as 
the first who officiated in that station, and 
the town of Newark as the place at which 
the College was first opened. (See 
Notes to Dr. Green's Discouises, pp. 803, 
304.) These statements and representations 
to me to require something like the 



interpretation which I have given above, 
viz : that the College over which Mr. Dick- 
inson presided, and which is connected 
with the present by no continuity of re- 
cords, officers or legal authority, was not 
regarded by contemporaries as having at- 
tained, strictly speaking, a permanent or. 
ganization ; and that which was subse- 
quently organized in Newark, under Gov- 
ernor Belcher's auspices, though it admit- 
ted to its honors the pupils who had before 
prepared themselves for their degree, was 
looked upon as, strictly speaking, a new 
beginning. This view seems to be ex- 
pressed very explicitly by Governor Liv- 
ingston, in his Eulogy on Mr. Burr, where 
he says : " To his unparalleled assiduity, 
next to the Divine blessing, is doubtless to 
be ascribed the present flourishing condi- 
tion of the College of New Jersey, which, 
from a mere private undertaking, is become 
the joy of its friends, and the admiration 
and envy of its enemies." 

* "Nullum habens adhuc domicilium." 
See Burr's Oration on the death of Dr. 
Doddridge, Sept. 1752. 

f History by President Finley. See 
Notes to Dr. Green's Discourses, p. 304. 



186 BURR AS PRESIDENT. 

yet the indomitable energy, vigilance and perseverance 
of the excellent President overcame all obstacles, and 
the College flourished, during that period, beyond the 
most sanguine expectations of its warmest friends * 
Funds for its maintenance were at first entirely want- 
ing, and not easily to be obtained. The General As- 
sembly of the Province, from which its charter was 
obtained, took no interest in its welfare, and the appeal 
of the trustees for " countenance and assistance for its 
support," met from them no favorable response. But 
from what is recorded respecting Mr. Burr's character 
and circumstances, it may be presumed that he con- 
tributed freely from his own pecuniary means to pro- 
mote its interests ; and we know that, by the weight 
of his influence and his personal efforts, he was able to 
accomplish much, in securing for it the patronage of 
the liberal here and in other parts of the world. It 
was through his agency that subscriptions were ob- 
tained in Boston, among which was the sum of .£100 
from Col. Alvord, justly denominated by a student at 
the time, " one of the greatest benefactors the College 
is blessed with." His intense interest in the object 
is pleasantly illustrated by what the same student 
says of the effect produced upon him by hearing that 
the College had won £200 in a lottery, that " it hath 
given the President (who hath been sick these four or 

* The testimony of Governor Livingston upon a solid basis, and at length rearing it 

on this point has already been quoted, p. up to that respectable condition and flour- 

186, note. That of Rev. Caleb Smith, in his ishing state in which we have the satisfac- 

funeral sermon, is equally explicit. " He tion to see it now. Forgive me the word 

mnst be allowed," he says, " under God to flourishing, since his auspicious influence 

have had a principal hand in bringing it is no more." 
[the College] into existence, then fixing it 



BURR AS PRESIDENT. 



187 



five clays,) such a pleasure, that his spirits are greatly- 
refreshed, which were before very low."* 

Nor was it only in the pecuniary interest of the in- 
stitution that the influence of the President was distin- 
guished. Inclined to literary pursuits from his child- 
hood, and having already attained to no mean emin- 
ence, he applied himself at once on entering upon his 
new station, with new closeness to the branches of 
study to be taught in it ; and, having " a singular turn 
for instruction," his success in this department was 
eminent.f At this period he had never more than two 
tutors, and sometimes only one, to assist him. Besides 
the government of the College, in which he excelled, 
exercising generally a mild discipline, but resorting to 
severity with much decision whenever occasion required 
it ; J and the pains he took to cultivate the hearts of his 
pupils, that he might send them out good Christians, 
as well as good scholars, in which he is said to have 
had great success ;§ we find him teaching personally the 
higher branches of mathematics, and giving lessons in 

* Letter of Joseph Shippen to his father pp. 16, 17. "Instead of turning every 

in Philadelphia, dated Newark, 18th June* branch of learning into inexplicable mys- 

1750. tery, the common pride of pedagogues, he 

t Funeral Sermon by Rev. Caleb Smith se t the most intricate points in the clear- 

" With what dignity and reputation," says est light," &c. 

Governor Livingston, " did he sustain the + On this point Governor Livingston 

office of President! Sensible how import- speaks as follows : "With the same ease 

ant to the public, and through the whole he secured the obedience and love of his 

thread of our existence, is the early cul- pupils. He had the art of leading the will 

ture of the human mind, he considered under invisible chains, and making reason 

himself, with the painter of old, as de- no less prevalent than authority. Who, 

signing for eternity. He had the most en- like him, could punish an offence, not only 

gaging method of instruction. Not infe- without the resentment, but with the ap- 

rior to the extent of his capacity was his probation of the delinquent?" &c— pp. IS, 

facility in communicating. No man had a 19. 

happier talent of expressing his senti- § Smith's funeral sermon, Livingston's 

ments, or calling latent truth from her Eulogy, and the obituary notices of Mr. 

dark and profound recesses." Eulogium, Burr speak the same language. 



188 



BURR AS PRESIDENT. 



the calculation of eclipses. About the year 1751, 
the use of a philosophical apparatus was secured, 
containing an orrery, electrical machine, &c, and a 
course of experimental lectures given by a person 
employed for that purpose.* Not far from this time, 
Mr. Burr prepared a grammar of the Latin language, 
which was published in New York in the Spring of 
1752, and under the title "Newark Grammar," was 
the standard for a long time in the College.f He 
is said to have been a very fine Latin scholar ; and as 
a specimen of his composition in that language, there 
still exists in manuscript, an oration, delivered by him 
in Newark, before the Board of Trustees, on the death 
of that distinguished Divine and scholar, Philip Dod- 
dridge, D. D., whom he takes occasion to applaud as 
one who, when the College was struggling with diffi- 
culties in its infant state, adorned it with his friend- 
ship, and cherished and advanced it with his patronage 
and beneficence.J 

The number of students, during this period, increased 
with great rapidity. About ninety took their first de- 
gree while the College remained in Newark ; not a few 
of whom became eminent afterwards, both in the pul- 

* Letters of Joseph Shippen. % " Certe inter tot lugentes hand ultimum 
t Joseph Shippen, a student, writes un- locum sibi vindicat Collegium Neo Cse- 
der date of April 25, 1752, to his father : sariense. Jam enim nascenti, multis in- 
" I send you, per Mrs. Harris, the Presi- commodis colluctanti, rebus angustis op- 
dent's new Grammar, as you desired, presso, benignissime respexit, amicitia 
which is advertised in the last New York condecoravit, patrociuio et beneficentia 
paper, so that I suppose that gentleman fovit el auxit." Towards the close of this 
to whom you intended accidentally to have oration, he takes occasion to speak in 
shown it without the preface, &c, with a terms of gratitude of John Alford and 
view to know his judgment of it, will hear James Allen, " cum multis aliis Bostonien- 
of its being published before you can have sibus," who had favored the College with 
an opportunity of letting him see it." their bounty. 



PKOSPEKITY OF THE COLLEGE. 



189 



pit and in civil life ; and honorary degrees were con- 
ferred on several very eminent names. Among the 
rest, Samuel Davies, the renowned pulpit orator, from 
whom Patrick Henry is said to have caught some of 
the fire of his eloquence, and who subsequently be- 
came the President of the College, here received the 
honorary degree of Master of Arts ; on which occasion 
"he delivered a Thesis Personales Distinctiones in 
Trinitate sunt ceternce, and vindicated it in a public 
dispute against three opponents."* 

The presence of the College in Newark, made the 
place, during this period, a kind of ecclesiastical me- 
tropolis for the branch of the Church with which this 
congregation was connected. The meetings of the 
Synod were generally held here, and the time appoint- 
ed for them to begin was " the day after Commence- 
ment." Here, in the year 1752, Jonathan Edwards, 
the future President of the College, and its warm 
friend and counsellor from the beginning, who had 
then recently become the father-in-law of President 
Burr, took his seat in the Synod as a corresponding 
member, and preached, as the opening sermon, his fa- 
mous discourse from James ii : 19, afterwards published 
at the request of the Synod, under the title of " True 

* See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketch- owed much to his friendship besides the 

es of Virginia. The celebrated George degree of A. M. in 1754." Again, (p. 419) 

Whitfield received a similar honor in speaking of a visit of Whitfield to Gover- 

1754. Philip (Life and Times of George nor Belcher, he says: "It was now the 

Whitfield, p. 186,) thus refers to it: "At New Jersey commencement, and the Presi- 

New Brunswick (i. e. in his first visit,) he dent and Trustees of the College presented 

found, if not a warmer, a more influential Whitefield with the degree of M. A. He 

friend in Aaron Burr, afterwards President was pleased with this mark of their res- 

of New Jersey College: one of the master pect from the Senate, but much more with 

spirits of his age and country. Whitfield the synod of ministers," &c. 



190 



burr's marriage. 



grace distinguished from the experience of devils."* 
Here the Synod of New York, animated by what their 
eyes saw in the proficiency of the students, and well 
aware that the school of the prophets was among the 
choicest institutions of their Church, devised and put in 
operation measures to secure for it, not the sympathy 
alone, but the pecuniary aid, of all their congregations ; 
and to engage the liberality of men of foreign lands in 
promoting the truly Christian design. f 

During the first fifteen years of his ministry, Mr. 
Burr remained unmarried. On the 29th of June, 1^52, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Esther Edwards, 
the third daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, she 
being at that time only 19 years of age. Mrs. Burr 
was a lady of very distinguished character and accom- 
plishments. She " exceeded most of her sex in the 
beauty of her person, as well as in her behaviour and 
conversation. She discovered an unaffected natural 
freedom towards persons of all ranks with whom she 

* Minutes of the Synod of New York, them to be annually observed, be sus- 

p. 246. Works of President Edwards, vol. pended on that account." To this order 

x, p. 232. the Presbyteries promptly responded. Mr- 

t In the minutes of the meeting in 1752, Burr was requested by the Trustees to 
already referred to, we find the following: take a voyage to Europe in 1752, for the 
"A motion being made to the Synod by purpose of soliciting benefactions in Great 
the Trustees of the College of New Jersey, Britain and Ireland. But his domestic 
to obtain a public collection from all the and other duties preventing his acceptance 
congregations belonging to the Synod ; of the appointment, Gilbert Tennent and 
and the Synod having taken the matter Samuel Davies were sent on the embassy 
into consideration, they do unanimously by authority of the Synod, and their efforts 
approve the motion, and earnestly recom- met with signal success. " The Institu- 
mend it to all the Presbyteries to see that tion," says President Finley, "was hon- 
every one of their members do endeavor ored beyond the most sanguine expecta. 
to collect money in their respective con- tions, with the approbation and liberality 
gregations for that purpose, and also in of several political and ecclesiastical bo- 
vacancies where they have opportunity to dies, and of many private persons of the 
do so ; and the Synod order that all other nobility and gentry among the laity and 
public collections, before appointed by clergy of the various denominations." 



CHARACTER OF MRS. BURR. 



191 



conversed. Her genius was more than common. 
She had a lively imagination, a quick and pene- 
trating discernment, and a good judgment. She pos- 
sessed an uncommon degree of wit and vivacity, which 
yet was consistent with pleasantness and good nature ; 
and she knew how to be facetious and sportive, with- 
out trespassing on the bounds of decorum or of strict 
and serious religion. In short, she seemed formed to 
please, especially to please one of Mr. Burr's taste and 
character, in whom he was exceedingly happy. But 
what crowned all her excellences, and was her chief 
glory, was religion. She appeared to be the subject 
of divine impressions when seven or eight years old, 
and she made a public profession of religion when 
about fifteen." "Her religion did not cast a gloom 
over her mind, but made her cheerful and happy, and 
rendered the thought of death transporting."* The 
strength and beauty of her mind, her tenderness 
and warmth of affection ; above all, the power and 
grandeur of her piety, are remarkably exemplified in 
the letters which she wrote to her parents and other 
friends, when adversity had at length rolled all its bil- 
lows over her, and little remained this side of the tomb, 
on which to fix a hope. They are published in the 
memoir of her honored father, f and are among the 
sweetest morsels in that eminently instructive book. 

It has been mentioned as a mark of eccentricity in 
Mr. Burr, J but should probably be set to the account 



* Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, p. 581. % In the Life of Col. Burr, by Matthew 
t Edwards' Life. Works, vol. i, pp. 565- L. Davis, I find the following remark : 
573. " President Burr was alike celebrated for 



192 



burr's marriage. 



of his very many and very urgent engagements, that, 
after the preliminaries of the marriage had been set- 
tled, the bride was sent for with her mother to come 
to Newark, and the wedding took place here amidst the 
scenes of her future usefulness."* 

During the ministry of Mr. Burr, we find very little 
in the Town Eecords which relates to the affairs of 



his eloquence and piety, but withal he 
possessed no inconsiderable degree of ec- 
centricity." On what this remark is 
founded, besides the marriage which the 
writer proceeds to mention and describe, I 
do not know. It is contrary to all the 
contemporary testimony which I have 
seen. Indeed, it is affirmed by tradition, 
as a remark of one who knew them both, 
"that Mr. B. possessed all the personal 
accomplishments of his son, without his 
vices." 

* The proceeding is very pleasantly de, 
scribed in a letter from one of his pupils- 
which, though somewhat humorous, I 
venture to transcribe in this connexion: 

Newark, 6th July, 1752. 
Dear and Honored Sir — The best piece 
of news I have now to furnish you with, is 
the marriage of our President, as this 
must come very unexpected to you. I 
shall give you an account of his proceed- 
ings, as brief as they were themselves. In 
the latter end of May, he took a journey 
into New England, and during his absence 
he made a visit of but three days to the 
Rev. Mr. Edwards' daughter, at Stock- 
bridge ; in which short time, though he 
had no acquaintance with, nor indeed ever 
seen tbe lady these six years, I suppose he 
accomplished his whole design ; for it was 
not above a fortnight after his return here* 
before he sent a young fellow, who came 
out of College last fall, into New England, 
to conduct her and her mother down 
here. 

They came to town on Saturday eve- 
ning, the 27th ult., and on the Monday 
evening following, the nuptial ceremonies 
were celebrated between Mr. Burr and the 



young lady. As I have yet no manner of 
acquaintance with her, I can not describe 
to you her qualifications and properties ; 
however, they say she is a very valuable 
lady. I think her a person of great beauty, 
though I must say that in my opinion she 
is rather too young (being only twenty-one 
years of age,) for the President. This ac- 
count you'll doubtless communicate to 
mammy, as I know she has Mr. Burr's 
happiness much at heart. I conclude 

with my love and duty to her, love to 

, &c, &c, and am with due esteem, 

Your very dutiful 

and affectionate son, 

J. Shippen, Jr. 
N. B.— Mr. Burr was in his thirty-sev- 
enth year. 

In a subsequent letter, addressed to his 
mother, and dated Newark, 1st August, 
1752, this same young gentleman, having 
at length formed his opinion on the impor- 
tant question, expresses himself as fol- 
lows: 

" I can't omit acquainting you that our 
President enjoys all the happiness the 
married state can afford. I am sure, 
when he was in the condition of celibacy, 
the pleasure of his life bore no comparison 
to that he now possesses. From the little 
acquaintance I have with his lady, I think 
her a woman of very good sense, of a 
genteel and virtuous education, amiable 
in her person, of great affability and 
agreeableness in conversation, and a very 
excellent economist. These qualifications 
may help you to frame some idea of the 
person who lives in the sincerest mutual 
affections with Mr. Burr." 



TRUSTEE^ INCORPORATED. 193 

tliis congregation. The process of separation, between 
civil and parochial affairs, had been going on gradually 
for many years. Though the salary of the present min- 
ister had been voted in a town meeting ; and the town, 
as such, were obligated nominally for its payment, yet, 
as a matter of fact, it was paid, like that of several of 
his predecessors, by those only who became specially 
obligated. A distinct set of assessors and collectors 
were always appointed for this rate ; and the appoint- 
ment, during all this period, was made at a distinct 
meeting, called especially, it is to be presumed, for 
that purpose. Meanwhile, three new congregations 
had been formed within the town limits. That at the 
Mountain had long sustained a minister of its own ; and 
the Episcopal Church, already incorporated, had been 
gradually gaining strength, till it had now completed 
a house of worship, and had a missionary constantly 
employed in its service. In these circumstances, it 
was thought desirable to complete the separation be- 
tween civil and ecclesiastical affairs, by securing for 
this congregation a distinct corporate existence. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 7th of June, in the year 1753, during 
the administration and under the favor of Governor 
Belcher, to whose kind regards the Presbyterians in 
this region were much indebted, a charter was obtained 
for that purpose. It is headed, " George the Second, 
by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and 
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith and, premising 
that " the advancement of true religion and virtue is 
absolutely necessary for the promotion of the peace, 
order and prosperity of the State," and that " it is the 

13 



194 



TRUSTEES INCORPORATED. 



duty of all Christian Princes and Governments, by the 
law of God, to do all they can for the encouragement 
thereof with allusions to " the known loyalty of the 
petitioners, and of the Presbyterians in general to us — 
their firm affection to our person and Government, and 
the Protestant succession in our Royal House and, 
taking care of course to assert, distinctly and repeat- 
edly, that it is all " of our especial grace, certain 
knowledge, and mere motion," proceeds to constitute a 
body of seven named individuals into " one body po- 
litic and corporate, in deed, fact and name, by the 
name of the Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church 
in Newark." The names of the original Trustees were 
Christopher "Wood, John Crane, Nathaniel Camp, Jo- 
seph Camp, Jonathan Sergeant, Joseph Riggs and Is- 
rael Crane. The Minister or Ministers, Elders and 
Deacons of the Church for the time being, or the 
majority of them, are empowered to displace any Trus- 
tee, and to fill all vacancies that may from time to time 
occur, by electing to that office suitable persons out of 
the congregation. This charter modified, as we shall 
see presently, in its practical operation, is the same un- 
der which the congregation holds its corporate exist- 
ence and privileges to the present day. 

The peculiar position of the Presbyterian Church 
during this period has already been noticed. As Mr. 
Burr was a young man when the measures which led 
to the division took place, he seems to have taken no 
prominent part in them. The first significant notice 
of him in the records of the Synod, is his being 
selected, in the year 1743, as the messenger to bear 



COUKSE OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YORK. 195 

the last overtures of restoration to the ejected breth- 
ren * Immediately on the consummation of the sepa- 
ration, and the organization of the new Synod, the 
brethren of the " new side" began to address them- 
selves with great vigor to their appropriate work. 
Without wasting their strength in fruitless recrimina- 
tions, they took measures to make their own influence 
as strong and effective as possible for their Master's 
service. We have already noticed the establishment 
of the College of New Jersey as one of the early fruits 
of these noble efforts. Their missionary operations, 
both in the new settlements and among the aborigines, 
were prosecuted with untiring vigor. And though 
their brethren of the " old side," anxious to free them- 
selves from all suspicion of participation in their ag- 
gressive movements, assured the Governor of Virginia, 
who complained of their missionaries, for " reviling our 
excellent liturgy," and " railing against our religious es- 
tablishment," that "these persons never belonged to 
w body, but are missionaries sent out by some who 
by reason of their divisive and uncharitable doctrines 
and practices, were, in May, 1741, excluded from our 
Synod ;" and taking the advantage of prejudices known 
to exist against them in some parts of New England^ 
adroitly intimated to President Clap, of Yale College, 
that the brethren of the New York Presbytery had 
been influenced by their party preferences, "to join in 
encouraging some of your disorderly scholars, f which 
we are far from vindicating ;" yet by a steady adher- 



* Minutes, p. 166. to here. See Minutes of the Synod of 

t David Brainerd is probably referred Philadelphia, p. 187. 



196 PEOSPEEITY OF THE SYNOD OF NEW YOEK. 

ence to their settled policy of minding their Master's 
work, by extending the bounds of His kingdom, and 
winning souls to Him, the new Synod secured the sym- 
pathy and warm co-operation, not only of such men as 
Jonathan Edwards in New England, and Dr. Dod- 
dridge in the Old Country, but also of the General As- 
sembly and other Presbyterian bodies in Scotland and 
Ireland. Towards their brethren of the " old side, 7 ' 
all their intercourse was confined to overtures of con- 
ciliation and re-union ; and while they steadfastly ad- 
hered to their determination to consent to no terms 
which did not distinctly disavow or rescind the un- 
righteous protest, as they regarded it, by which a por- 
tion of their number were excluded from that body, 
they did not cease, from the first moment to the last, 
notwithstanding some very irritating rebuffs, to hold 
out the olive branch of peace. 

The result was, that during the period of the sepa- 
ration, the prosperity of the Synod of New York far 
exceeded that of its elder sister of Philadelphia. 
While the latter remained nearly stationary, the for- 
mer rapidly extended itself ; so that in 1753 they could 
speak of a great number of congregations which had put 
themselves under their care in New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, 
besides large settlements both in North and South Car- 
olina, where numerous congregations were in process 
of formation under their auspices.* Nor was the effort 
for re-union, hopeless as it seemed for a long period, 

* Minutes of the Synod of New York, p. 255, note. 



MR. BURROS INFLUENCE IN THE SYNOD. 



197 



ultimately frustrated. Times changed, and some of 
the men changed; and party spirit being allayed, 
measures began to be seen on both sides in their true 
light ; the offensive protest was disowned by the party 
that had acted upon it, and the two Synods came to- 
gether under the most favorable prospects in the year 
1758, seventeen years after the ejection of the New 
Brunswick Presbytery and thirteen years after the 
formation of the Synod of New York. 

The history of the proceedure of this Synod and its 
results is a worthy example, for all time of the spirit 
and action to be maintained in seasons of division be- 
tween brethren, especially for those who deem them- 
selves the aggrieved party. The history of the Pres- 
byterian Church scarcely furnishes a brighter specimen 
of Christian zeal, evangelical fervor, practical wisdom, 
mild and charitable firmness, and ecclesiastical pros- 
perity than is presented by this same New Side Church, 
during the thirteen years of its separate organization. 

In the measures proposed by this body, Mr. Burr 
exercised a prominent influence. After the death of 
Mr. Dickinson, which occurred in the earliest part of 
this period, he might perhaps be regarded as its leader ; 
if leaders could be spoken of in a body, whose general 
average of ability and influence was so high. It may 
be regarded as an indication of his position and of the 
relative importance of his congregation, owing chiefly 
however to the presence of the college here, that, 
during the period of seven years, from September, 
1750, to 1757, the annual meeting of the Synod con- 
vened in Newark five times ; and at one of the two 



198 SECULAR PROSPERITY OF NEWARK. 

remaining meetings of that body, Mr. Burr presided 
over it as its moderator. In efforts for the reunion of 
the Church, he was particularly active, though he died 
just before its actual accomplishment. 

During the ministry of Mr. Burr, the secular pros- 
perity of the town of Newark was beyond all former 
precedent. Every branch of industry, trade, manufac- 
tures, and agriculture, received a new impulse. The 
population increased in numbers, and advanced in 
wealth and respectability * The presence of a flour- 
ishing Latin school and of a college, increasing yearly in 
importance, and sending forth graduates to the num- 
ber of fifteen or twenty in a year, must have made it 
a literary centre for the whole region, and given a pow- 
erful spring to intellectual cultivation. Few men could 
have carried on the work of the ministry in such cir- 
cumstances, amidst so many cares, without serious det- 
riment to the spiritual interests of the congregation. 
But Mr. Burr was a man of uncommon powers and 
uncommon devotion and activity ; and though it can 
hardly be supposed that during the latter period of his 
ministry, the spiritual improvement of the people ad- 
vanced proportionably to their external prosperity, 
we hear no complaints of any neglect of their souls' 
interests on his part ; and their attachment to him re- 
mained to the last unabated. 

But the very causes to which they owed their 
elevation, were, all this while, preparing for them 
a bitter disappointment. The College seems never to 



* Manuscript History by Dr. Macwhorter. 



ME. BURR'S DISMISSION. 



199 



have been regarded as located permanently in Newark. 
As early as the year 1751, a proposition was enter- 
tained for its removal to Princeton. Then, shortly 
after, overtures were made from the people of New 
Brunswick to have it established there. But various 
obstacles and delays interposed, till at length, Prince- 
ton having been fixed upon as the place of permanent 
location, buildings were erected, and the institution 
was removed in the autumn of 1756.* A year earlier, 
Mr. Burr had resigned his pastoral charge, finding 
its duties incompatible with the increasing cares of 
his office as President. It was a severe stroke to the 
people. The opposition was earnest, and the disputes 
bitter. It was alleged on the one side, that the rela- 
tion between pastor and people was as inviolable as 
the marriage covenant, and on the other, that the 
greatest usefulness to the cause of Christ generally, 
must always determine whether or not it should be 
continued. But the result was, that the candid and 
judicious part of the congregation becoming satisfied 
that the proposed measure was right, however afflictive 
to them, gave their consent.f And thus ended a min- 
istry which, for spiritual and temporal results com- 
bined, has certainly no superior in the whole history 
of this favored congregation. The entire period of Mr. 
Burr's residence in Newark, including his candidacy, 
was twenty years, during eighteen of which he was 
the regularly installed pastor of the Church. 

Mr. Burr was small in stature, and of a delicate 

* Dr. Green's Discourses, note, p. 307. t Century Sermon by Dr. Macwhorter, p. 2. 



200 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



frame, but was capable of great effort. " To encounter 
fatigue," says Governor Livingston, "he had a heart 
of steel, and for the dispatch of business the most 
amazing talents." " As long as an enterprise appeared 
not absolutely impossible, he knew no discouragement ; 
but in proportion to its difficulty, augmented his dili- 
gence, and by an insuperable fortitude, frequently 
accomplished what his friends and acquaintances 
deemed utterly impossible."* 

In his private intercourse, he was modest, easy, 
courteous and obliging. Affable in conversation, can- 
did in his friendship towards good men of all classes 
and denominations — "a perfect master of the art of 
pleasing in company"f — his presence threw a charm 
over every social circle. Perfectly free from all 
pedantry, his learning would scarcely be suspected 
unless a special occasion called it forth, and when it 
did, " every one was astonished how a person so im- 
mersed in books had acquired so large a share of ease 
in converse and freedom of behavior." " In him every- 
thing was agreable, because every thing was natural, 
and he had the secret to be intimately familiar with- 
out degrading the dignity of his high function. At 
proper times he would indulge moderately in humor, 
and render himself innocently facetious, though he sel- 
dom aimed at wit, and there was a mild dignity in all 
his deportment." " As he had not studied the philoso- 
phers without sacrificing to the graces, so neither in 

* Funeral Eulogium, p. 8. The Rev. skill and amazing dispatch manage a va- 

Caleb Smith bears the same testimony, riety of affairs-" See Funeral Sermon. 

" He had a genius wonderfully adapted to + Rev. Caleb Smith's Funeral Sermon, 
the busy scenes of life, and could with 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



201 



the sallies of humor did he ever forget the character 
of a divine." " His open, benevolent, and undissem- 
bling heart inspired all around him with innocent 
cheerfulness, and made every one who knew him court 
his engaging society."* 

With his brethren in the ministry he was a special 
favorite, occupying the highest place in their respect 
and affection. He took a peculiar interest in young 
candidates for the sacred office, and so high was the 
general estimation of his judgment in this particular, 
that vacant churches were accustomed to apply to him 
from a great distance to direct them in the selection of 
their pastors. His acquaintances were numerous, and 
his correspondence extensive, both in this country and 
in Europe. Firm and steady to his principles, he was 
yet eminently free from exclusiveness and bigotry. 
"He prized religion as an inestimable jewel, whose 
real value was neither enhanced nor diminished by the 
casket in which it was deposited. Hence he loved and 
revered the sincere and exemplary of every communion, 
and particularly cultivated a strict correspondence 
with several of the greatest ornaments of the church 
established in England, who in their turn treated him 
with the highest affection and respect."f 

Temperate even to abstemiousness, he was a lover 
of hospitality ; and possessing ampler means than most 
of his brethren, he distinguished himself as a bountiful 
giver. 

Both his eulogists agree in representing him as a 



* Livingston's Eulogium, p. 7. Rev. t Livingston's Eulogium, p. 10. See 
Caleb Smith's Funeral Sermon. also Funeral Sermon by Rev. C. Smith. 



202 



CELA.EA.CTEE OF PEESIDENT BTJER. 



judicious aad warm hearted patriot. " Amidst all the 
cares of his academical functions," says Governor Liv- 
ingston, "he thought, and studied, and toiled, and 
planned for the common weal. He had a high sense 
of English liberty, and detested despotic power as the 
bane of human happiness. With him the heresy of 
Arius was not more fatal to the purity of the Gospel 
than the positions of Filmar to the dignity of man or 
the repose of States. Of our excellent constitution he 
entertained the justest idea, and gloried in the privi- 
leges of a Briton as much as he lamented their prosti- 
tution and abuse. If any thing ever ruffled the seren- 
ity of his mind besides the prevalence of vice, it was- 
the adverse fortunes and disastrous situation of his 
country." Mr. Smith observes that " he had much of 
that patriotic spirit which is ornamental even to a 
Christian minister," but that from prudential motives 
he " very cautiously intermeddled in any matters of a 
political nature." He speaks of him as a great friend 
of liberty, civil and religious. 

* As a correspondent of the Society in Scotland for 
propagating Christian knowledge, he used his influence 
with great assiduity for the instruction of the heathen 
aborigenes, a and thought no labor, no difficulty too 
great in the prosecution of so important an enterprise." 

Notwithstanding his great fondness for classical 
studies, and the various miscellaneous avocations into 
which his relations to the College necessarily led him, 
Mr. Burr attained to no inconsiderable eminence as a 
theologian. " His human literature," says his distin- 
guished eulogist, u like an obsequious handmaid, was 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



203 



ever ready to set off and embellish his mistress, 
divinity." " He was greatly a master," says another, 
" of systematical, casuistical and practical divinity, and 
he understood polemical, but cared not much to wield 
the sword of religious controversy."* The Bible he 
read by turns, both as a critic and for purposes of de- 
votion. 

" In the pulpit he verily shone out as a star of the 
first magnitude." "He was fluent, copious, sublime and 
persuasive." " His language was intelligible to the 
meanest capacity, and above the censure of the greatest 
genius. His invention was not so properly fruitful as 
inexhaustible, and his eloquence equal to his ideas."f 
When his leisure would allow, he generally wrote out 



* The writer has now in his possession^ 
a specimen of his manner and ability in 
controversial divinity, viz., a pamphlet of 
sixty closely printed pages, entitled, " The 
Supreme Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
maintained in a letter to the dedicator of 
Mr. Emlyn's ' Inquiry into the Scripture 
account of Jesus Christ,' inscribed to the 
Reverend Clergy of all denominations in 
New England ; wherein Mr. Emlyn's ob- 
jections are fairly answered, and shewn 
to have no validity. By the late Reverend 
Aaron Burr, President of the College of 
New Jersey. 

"John i : 1. In the beginning was the 
word — and the word was God. 

" John xx : 28. And Thomas said unto 
Him, My Lord and my God. 

" John iii : 16. Hereby perceive we the 
love of God— because He laid His life for 
us. 

"John v: 20. Jesus Christ. This is 
the true God and eternal life. 

" Boston : reprinted, Edward E. Powers, 
in Court street, mdcccxci." 

The advertisement of this reprint in- 
forms us that " the following pamphlet was 
occasioned by the re-publication of Mr. 



Emlyn's Inquiry with a dedication ' to 
the Clergy of all denominations,' about 
thirty years since in this town, [Boston.] 
No reply was then made to it, and the 
controversy ended for a time. It is re- 
published now with the hope that it may 
be attended with similar consequences. 
Extracts from Mr. Emlyn's Inquiry were 
printed here some time since ; and it was 
doubted by the friends of the doctrine 
of Christ's real Divinity, whether it was 
best to make any reply to a book which 
has been so often answered. Their doubts 
upon this subject and their disinclination 
to revive a controversy generally pursued 
with too much warmth and bitterness 
have retarded this publication. — The es- 
tablished character of the author will ren- 
der any commendations of the work un- 
necessary, and a perusal of it will we 
doubt not give pleasure to every candid 
reader." 

Of the character of this pamphlet it is 
just to say, that it is as gentlemanly and 
christian in its tone, as it is cogent in ar- 
gument. 

+ Funeral Eulogium by Governor Liv- 
ingston. 



204 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



his discourses at large, but lie had a remarkable talent 
for extemporaneous preaching. Samuel Davies, who 
heard him ]3reach a valedictory sermon to the candi- 
' dates for the first degree in the College, from the text, 
" ~Now my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper 
thee," says, he " was amazed to see how readily good 
sense and accurate language flowed from him extem- 
pore," " His sermon," he adds, " was very affecting to 
me, and might have been so to the students."* In his 
gestures he was easy and natural, and there was an air 
of mild gravity and genuine benignity in his aspect. 
His voice was clear and musical, his matter solid, and 
his skill in finding and entering the avenues of the 
heart seldom surpassed. Pungent and searching in his 
application of truth, he was yet in an eminent degree 
soothing and consolatory, and it was only when he 
saw the sinful soul humbled and penitent before God 
that he turned to expatiate upon the riches of redeem- 
ing love and presented the free offer of salvation from 
the cross of Christ. 

" What he preached in the pulpit he lived out of it. 
His life and example were a comment on his sermons, 
and his engaging deportment rendered the amiable 
character of the Christian still more attractive and 
lovely." " His piety eclipsed all his other accom- 
plishments. He was," says his admiring eulogist^ 
" steady in his faith, unfluctuating in principle, ardent 
in devotion, deaf to temptation, open to the motives 
of grace, without pride, without ostentation, full of 

* See Davies' Journal, in Foote's Sketches of Virginia. 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 205 

God, evacuated of self, Laving liis conversation in 
heaven, seeing through the veil of mortality the high 
destiny of man, breathing a spiritual life, and offering 
up a perpetual holocaust of adoration and praise." 

His superior character and accomplishments are thus 
summed up by the pen of that distinguished civilian, 
from whose eloquent eulogium I have already so largely 
drawn. " To have all the qualifications that render a 
man amiable or great, to be the object of delight 
wherever one is known, to possess learning, genius and 
sublimity of soul ; can there be a greater blessing to 
the world? To exert those shining endowments for 
the benefit of mankind, and employ a great and ele- 
vated spirit only in doing great and diffusive good — 
can a nobler use be made of the happiest talents? 
Amidst such striking colors in so degenerate an age, 
who can mistake the picture of the excellent deceased, 
whose memory these pages are intended to celebrate. 7 ' 
"Can you imagine to yourself a person modest in 
prosperity, prudent in difficulty, in business indefati- 
gable, magnanimous in danger, easy in his manners, of 
exquisite judgment, of profound learning, catholic in 
sentiment, of the purest morals, and great even in the 
minutest things — can you imagine so accomplished a 
person without recollecting the idea of the late Presi- 
dent Burr V 

Language so highly eulogistic may be supposed to 
require some qualification, on the part of the reader. 
But the fact that such a man as Livingston should 
have felt himself justified in using it, affords strong 
presumption that it is not greatly exaggerated. In 



206 



CHARACTER OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



fact there is scarcely a shade of coloring in the com- 
mendation bestowed by it if we except the style, which 
is not fully sustained by more than one contemporary 
authority. The following obituary notice taken from 
the Pennsylvania Gazette, and probably written by 
the illustrious editor of that venerable journal, is as 
decisive in its testimony as it is terse and simple in its 
phraseology. "Sept. 29, 1757 — Last Saturday died 
the Reverend Mr. Aaron Burr, President of the New 
Jersey College, a gentleman and a Christian, as univer- 
sally beloved as known ; an agreeable companion, a 
faithful friend, a tender and affectionate husband, and 
a good father ; remarkable for his industry, integrity, 
strict honesty and pure undissembled piety; his be- 
nevolence as disinterested as unconfmed ; an excellent 
preacher, a great scholar, and a very great man. 



* Pennsylvania Gazette Sept. 29, 1757, He offered himself to an examination as a 

No. 1501. "Printed by B. Franklin, Post- candidate for the Dean's bounty, and was 

master, and D. Hall, at the new printing adjudged worthy to enjoy that benefaction, 

office near the Market." About the year 1736 he settled in the minis- 

The following more extended obituary try at Newark, and in his sacred functions 

notice I copy from the New York Mercury, was equally laborious and successful. On 

where it appeared Monday, October 10th, the death of the Rev. Mr. Dickinson, in the 

1757. year 1747, he took upon him the charge of 

" Nassau Hall, New Jersey, September the College of New Jersey, which then 

29th, 1757. consisted of about eight students, though 

" On Monday last was interred the Rev. at the time of his death the number, by 
Mr. Aaron Burr, President of this College, the blessing of Heaven, on his unparal- 
He died on the 24th inst., in the 41st year leled industry, was augmented, including 
of his age. His funeral was attended by the grammar school, to upwards of eighty, 
several ministers, all the students, and a While the College funds were insufficient 
large number of the neighboring inhabit- to support a president, he served without 
ants. Universal was the grief on the a salary in that arduous station for the 
melancholy occasion ; and the loss of so space of three years. He was a gentle- 
valuable a man diffuses a general sorrow man of great judgment, sagacity and eru" 
among all ranks of people. He was born dition. In his temper open, generous* 
at Fairfield, in Connecticut, and descended familiar and humane. In conversation* 
from one of the most considerable families as the subject required, solemn or face- 
in New England. His education he had tious, and in both entertaining and in- 
at Yale College, in New Haven, and was structive. Of such disinterested and dif- 
reputed one of the best scholars in his class, fusive benevolence, as even to conciliate 



PKESIDENT BURK'S DEATH. 



207 



The glowing eulogy of William Livingston, sup- 
ported by the plain unvarnished statements of Caleb 
Smith, and endorsed by the weighty testimony of 
Benjamin Franklin, seems to have little more to be 
desired in attestation of the genuine merit of the sub- 
ject of its commendation. 

Mr. Burr's life was prolonged only one year after he 
left Newark. He never presided at a Commencement 
exercise at Princeton. In the month of August, 1757, 
being then in a feeble state of health, he made a hasty 
visit to his father-in-law, at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 
and returning, hastened to Elizabethtown on some bu- 
siness with the Government relating to the interests of 
the College. Here he learned that his esteemed 



malice and repress the efforts of detrac- 
tion. For quickness of apprehension and 
vivacity of spirits, the admiration of all 
his acquaintance. A learned and pro- 
found divine, amiably candid in his reli- 
gious sentiments, and in the pulpit fluent 
sublime and persuasive. In his pastoral 
character, venerable and serious, but his 
seriousness so far from gloomy or austere, 
discovered a perpetual fund of that heartfelt 
joy, which results from real goodness and 
tranquillity of conscience. His sermons, 
in which he blended imagination with 
judgment, and joined elegance to solidity, 
were wonderfully adapted to reform the 
taste, to mend the morals, and to win the 
heart. By his pupils he was beloved as a 
friend, and like a father revered and hon- 
ored. In promoting the prosperity of the 
seminary over which he presided, he was 
discouraged by no disappointment, but of 
unwearied assiduity and inflexible resolu- 
tion. By his pious instruction and exam- 
ple, his affectionate addresses and gentle 
discipline he initiated the students as well 
into the school of Jesus, as into the litera- 
ture of Greece and Rome, and enured even 
youth in the full luxury of blood to fly the 
infectious world, and tread the paths of 



virtue. But the rest of his accomplish- 
ments were shaded and eclipsed by the still 
brighter lustre of his more resplendent 
piety. With an ardent affection for his 
divine Master, and an exemplary conform- 
ity to the unerring pattern, he crowned 
all his other amiable qualities, and exalted 
the great man into the greater Christian. 
After a life so gloriously spent, well might 
he 

" ' Even in the terrors of expiring breath, 
Welcome the friendly stroke, and live in 
death.' 

"In him the Churches have lost a distin- 
guished divine, the College a learned and 
faithful head, the poor a liberal, benefi- 
cent friend, his lady the best of husbands, 
and the commonwealth an incorruptible 
patriot. 

" The Reverend Mr. Jonathan Edwards 
is chosen to succeed him in the president- 
ship, a gentleman of whose piety and 
learning the public has frequently had the 
amplest attestations. 

" Yesterday being the day of commence- 
ment, twenty-five of the students who had 
been before examined and approved, were 
admitted to their degrees in the Arts." 



208 



PRESIDENT BURR'S DEATH. 



friend, the Rev. Caleb Smith, of Newark Mountain, had 
just been bereaved of his wife. He hastened to mourn 
with and console him ; and having no time to prepare a 
sermon, preached extemporaneously a funeral discourse 
from the words, " Willing rather to be absent from the 
body and to be present with the Lord."* Still suf- 
fering from indisposition, he made a journey to Phila- 
delphia on business for the College, in that sultry 
season, and returned home, exhausted with fatigue and 
already the subject of an intermittent fever, only to 
meet a new demand upon his exertions. His old friend, 
the generous patron of the institution over which he 
presided, Governor Belcher, had just deceased, and he 
was expected to do honor to his memory in a funeral 
sermon. " You will not think it strange," says his ex- 
cellent wife, after his decease, " if it has imperfections, 
when I tell you that all he wrote on the subject, was 
done in a part of one afternoon and evening, when he 
had a violent fever on him, and the whole night after, 
he was irrational." Completing his preparations, he 
rode forty miles to Elizabethtown, and preached the 
discourse before a vast assembly, on Lord's day, Sept. 
4. " It grieved his friends," says Mr. Smith, " to be- 
hold the languor of his countenance, and observe the 
failure of his harmonious delivery, not having strength 
for that clear utterance, or spirit for that free, lively, 
animated address, with which he used to entertain and 
charm an audience." He returned home, and his dis- 



* In the Life of President Edwards, p. 
565, this service is spoken of as having 
reference to a death in the family of his 
successor. But the date corresponds to 



that of the death of Mrs. Smith ; and Mr. 
Smith himself speaks of it in such a man- 
ner as to leave no room for doubt. 



DEATH OF PRESIDENT BURR. 



209 



order soon taking the form of a nervous fever, termin- 
ated his life on the 24th of September, 1757. He left 
the College in a flourishing condition, and died in the 
very midst of a most powerful display of Divine grace 
in the conversion of great numbers in that institution. 
It was a fearful stroke to the whole community. 

On his death-bed, Mr. Burr had given direction that 
no unnecessary parade should be made at his funeral, 
and no expenses incurred beyond what Christian de- 
cency would require. The sum necessary for the ex- 
penses of a fashionable funeral, which by this order 
would be saved, he directed should be given to the 
poor, out of his estate. His funeral was attended 
amidst a large concourse of lamenting friends, and his 
remains were interred at Princeton on the 24th of 
September, 1757. 

Mrs. Burr survived her husband less than a year, 
and died April 7, 1758. They left two children — a 
daughter and a son — both born during their residence 
in Newark, and both, it is presumed, baptized within 
the pale of this Church. The former was married to 
the Hon. Tappan Reeve, of Litchfield, Conn., and the 
latter, having obtained almost the highest rank in the 
nation — the heir of his father's accomplishments, but 
not of his virtues — lies buried at the feet of that illus- 
trious and sainted man, where, in filial reverence, he 
had desired that his remains should be deposited. 

The tomb-stone of Mr. Burr bears the following in- 
scription, which I copy, with the translation of it, from 
a pamphlet entitled " History of the College of New 
Jersey, by a Graduate." It is said to have been pre- 

14 

t 



210 



EPITAPH. 



pared by the Hon. William Smith, and revised by the 
Rev. Messrs. Jacob Green and Caleb Smith: 

M. S. 

Reverendi admodum viri, 
AARONIS BURR, A. M., Collegii JVeo-Caesariensis Praesidis, 
Natus apud Fairfield, Connecticutensium, IV Januarii, 
A. D. MDCCXVI. S. V. 
Honesta in eadem Colonia Familia oriundus, 
Collegio Yalensi innutritus, 
Novarcae Sacris initiatus, MDCCXXXVIII. 
Anno circiter vigini pastorali Munere 
Fideliter functus, 
Collegii N. C. Praesidium MDCCXLVIII accepit, 
In Nassovicz Aulam sub Finem MDCCLVI translatus ? 
Defunctus in hoc vico XXIV Septembris, 
A. D. MDCCLVII. S. N. 
jEtatis XLII. Eheu quam brevis ! 
Huic Marmori subjicitur, quod mori potuit; 
Quod immortale, vindicarunt Coeli — 
Quaeris viator qualis quantusque fuit 1 
Perpaucis accipe. 
Vir corpore parvo ac tenui, 
Studiis, vigiliis, assiduisque laboribus, macro, 
Sagacitate, Perspicicacitate, Agilitate, 
Ac Solertia, (si fas dicere,) 
Plusquam humana, pene 
Angelica, 
Anima ferme totus. 
Omnigena Literatura instructus, 
Theologia praestantior : 
Concionator volubilis, suavis et suadus : 
Orator facundus. 
Moribus facilis candidus et jucundus, 
Vita egregie liberalis ac benficus : 
Supra vero omnia emicuerunt 
Pietas ac Benevolentia. 
Sed ah ! quanta et quota Ingenii, 
Industriae, Prudentiae, Patientiae, 
Caeterarumc{ue omnium virtutum 
Exemplaria. 
Marmoris Sepulchralis Angustia Reticebit. 
Multum desideratus, multum dilectus, 
Humani generis Deliciae. 



EPITAPH. 



211 



! infandum sui Desiderium, 
Gemit Ecclesia, plorat Academia : 
At Coelum plaudit, dum ille 
Ingreditur 
In Gaudium domini Dulce loquentis, 
Euge bone et fidelis 
Serve ! 

Abi viator tuam respice finem. 

SACRED TO THE MEMORY 

of a most venerable man, 
AARON BURR, A. M., President of the College of New 

Jersey. 

He was born of a good family at Fairfield, Conn., on the 4th of 
January, A. D. 1716, O. S. 
He was educated at Yale College. 
Commenced his ministry at Newark, in 1738. 
He performed the pastoral office with fidelity about 20 years. 
Accepted the Presidency of the College of New Jersey, 
in 1748. 

Being transferred to Nassau Hall at the close of 1756, 
he died in this village^ on the 24th of September, 
A. D. 1757, N. S. 
Beneath this marble is laid, all of him that could die ; 
His immortal part, Heaven has claimed — 
Do you ask, Stranger, what he was 1 
Hear in a few words : 
He was a man of a small and weak body, spare with study, 

watching and constant labors, — ■ 
He had sagacity, penetration, quickness and despatch, (if it be 
lawful to say so,) more than human, almost Angelic. 
He was skilled in all kinds of Learning. 
In Theology he excelled. 
He was a fluent speaker, pleasing and persuasive. 
An accomplished Orator. 
In his manners, easy, frank and cheerful ; 
In his life, remarkably liberal and beneficent. 
His Piety and Benevolence outshined all other qualities. 
Ah, how numerous and how excellent were his examples of 
Genius, Industry, Prudence, Patience, 
and all other virtues, — 
The narrow sepulchral marble refuses to speak them. 
Greatly regretted, and much beloved, he was the delight of 

human kind. 
0, the unspeakable regret. 



214 me. bsainerd's kemoval. 

were waiting in expectation. The graves of two of his 
little children, buried here the following autumn, attest 
the presence of his family, probably his own, at that pe- 
riod.* The circumstances of his leaving Newark, to re- 
turn to his mission, are even more explicit. " Mr. Brain- 
erd applied to the Synod for advice," say the Minutes, 
under date of May, 1759, " whether it was his duty to 
leave his present charge at Newark and resume his 
mission to the Indians." "Arguments on both sides 
were fully heard," and the decision arrived at was, that 
" though he had a very comfortable settlement at 
Newark, yet the Synod, through an earnest desire to 
promote the kingdom of Christ among these poor In- 
dians, advised him to give up these temporal advan- 
tages, and settle as a missionary among these poor In- 
dians ;" " with which advice," it is added, " he readily 
and generously complied." In coming to this decision 
the Synod declare themselves " tenderly affected with 
the case of the Newark congregation," whose happy 
and hopeful settlement seems to have been frustrated 
by this act of Christian duty.f 

The only doubt thrown over this matter, arises from 
the fact that Dr. Macwhorter, in his historical notices, 
never mentions the ministry of John Brainerd ; and 
what is still more singular, though the latter was re- 

* Their tombstones, which were stand- Monumental Inscriptions, p. 167. 

Ing not long since, bear the following in- + Minutes of the Synods of New York 

scriptions : an d Philadelphia, pp. 294-299. It is add- 

" Miss Sophia Brainerd, elder daughter ed, under date of May 18, 1759: "Mr. 

of the Rev. John Brainerd, died Sept. 8th, Brainerd being removed from New York, 

1758, in the 6th year of her age." it is ordered that Messrs. Woodruff, Ket- 

" David Brainerd, only son of the Rev. tletas, Darby and Cummings supply there 

John Brainerd, died Sept. 14th, 1758, in each one Sabbath, if need be." 
the 2d year of his age." 



MINISTRY OF MR. BRAINERD. 



215 



leased from liis charge, with, the affectionate condolen- 
ces of the Synod towards a bereaved congregation, on 
the 18th of May, and the former succeeded to the 
same charge in the month of June following, yet the 
whole matter is completely ignored. You would not 
gather from the three distinct narratives written by 
Dr. M., the slightest hint that John Brainerd ever 
spent a Sabbath in Newark. On the contrary, the 
whole period occupied by his ministry — a period of 
nearly four years — is represented as one of unhappy 
contention, mutual recrimination, and division between 
rival candidates. " Some blamed the Presbytery," he 
says, " for taking away their minister ; others reflected 
upon their neighbors for consenting to his dismission, 
and by one means and another, they were divided 
among many candidates, until their mortifications and 
uneasinesses subsided by time, and they quietly united 
to call their present minister, who preached his first 
sermon here June 28th, 1759."* One of two conclu- 
sions seem inevitable. Either the Minutes of the 
Synod of New York are not reliable, or the historian, 
who wrote many years after the facts referred to took 
place, must have forgotten events of which he was al- 
most an eye-witness in his early youth. That there 
was a close relation of some sort between Mr. Brainerd 
and this people, during the period just now designated, 
cannot be doubted ; and, notwithstanding the difficulty 
which I have stated, my judgment inclines strongly to 
the conclusion that he was, for a short time at least, 



* Century Sermon, p. 22. 



216 



REV. ALEXANDER MAC WHORTER . 



the regular pastor of this Church.* Mr. Brainerd's 
ministry was unquestionably a short one. He returned 
to the care of the Indian mission, and continued in 
that service during the whole or nearly all the remain- 
der of his life. In the year 1754 he was chosen a 
trustee of the College of New Jersey ; was moderator 
of the Synod in the year 1762, and sustained from 
time to time important offices connected with that body. 
He died, March 21, 1781, at Deerfield, Cumberland 
county, N. J., and " lies buried under the middle aisle 
of the old parish church there, where he last minis- 
tered, and where a slab of marble shows his epitaph."f 

The next pastor of this Church was the Rev. Alex- 
ander Macwhorter, who was born in the county of 
Newcastle, in the State of Delaware, July 15, 1734, 
O. S. His ancestors emigrated from Scotland, and set- 
tled in the North of Ireland, where both of his 
grand-parents on the maternal side, perished by Papal 
violence in the great Irish massacre in 1641, during 
the civil wars of Charles the First. His grand-mother, 
then an infant, escaped from the scene of butchery by 
being hid by her nurse, and was the only survivor of 
the entire family. J 

His father, Hugh Macwhorter, was a linen merchant 
in the north of Ireland, whence he emigrated with his 
family to America about the year 1730, and, settling 

* In this opinion I do but concur with f Letter from Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D. 

that of the late Dr. Archibald Alexander, D., of Philadelphia, 

in the " Log College," p. 76, and of Dr. % See Dr. Griffin's Funeral Sermon. 

Hodge in his " History of the Presbyterian " They were hanged," says Dr. G., "on a 

Church," the latter of whom expressly tree before their own door." See also Life 

calls Mr. Brainerd " the pastor of the of Dr. Rogers, by Dr. Miller. 
Church in Newark," p. 347. 



EARLY LIFE. 217 

in Delaware upon a large farm, became an elder in the 
Church afterwards under the care of Rev. Mr. Rodgers, 
since known as Dr. Rodgers, of New York.* The eldest 
son, Alexander, a youth of great promise, both for talents 
and piety, who had spent two years at the University 
of Edinburgh, and had now nearly completed his stud- 
ies for the ministry, dying a few years after the emi- 
gration, his name was transferred to the youngest son, 
who was born about the time of his brother's death. 

" The first time," says Dr. Miller, " that Mr. Kodgers, 
after entering on his pastoral charge, assembled the 
children of a particular district in his congregation, to 
catechise them, it was at the house of Hugh Macwhor- 
ter, a wealthy and respectable farmer in his neighbor- 
hood. The children were so numerous that a room of 
ordinary size would not contain them, and it was 
thought best to collect them in a spacious barn, on the 
farm, near the dwelling-house of Mr. Macwhorter." 
Among the rest, came young Alexander, the youngest 
son of the worthy elder, to present himself to the kind 
notice of his youthful pastor, and to be catechised by 
him in that barn. " The prudence, the good sense, the 
readiness in reply, and the highly promising character 
which this youth exhibited, first drew the attention, 
and afterwards the special regard and friendship of 
Mr. Kodgers, and laid the foundation of an affection- 
ate union between them to the end of life."f 

Alexander Macwhorter was the youngest of eleven 
children, and was trained by his. excellent parents in 



* The name of Hugh McQuarter ap- t Mem. of Dr. Rogers, p. 71, 72. 
pears in the minutes of the Synod in 1738. 



218 CONVERSION AND education. 

the principles and duties of piety. It was their prac- 
tice to devote the Sabbath evenings especially to the 
religious instruction of the children, and Alexander 
had often been taken alone into the woods or into 
some private apartment, to hear the fervent and tear- 
ful entreaties, and join in the importunate prayers of 
parental love and solicitude. 

At the age of fourteen, he, with three ether chil- 
dren, all of vvdiom lived and died in the faith in which 
they had been nurtured, was left, by the death of their 
excellent father, to the sole care and training of their 
widowed mother; and immediately after this, the 
whole family removed to North Carolina, Here he 
first awoke to a full consciousness of his religious 
needs, under the influence of a sermon from a " New 
Light" preacher by the name of John Brown, after- 
wards for many years a minister in Virginia, the theme 
of which was the second verse of the seventh Psalm.* 
Deep and long continued were his convictions of sin 
and his dread of the wrath of God. " He used,' 1 says 
Dr. Griffin, " daily to repair to a copse of pines near 
his brother's house, where he resided, and there, to use 
his own expressive words, 4 would dash himself on the 
ground, looking for the earth to open and swallow him 
up.' " But it was not till after he had left North Car- 
olina and returned to the neighborhood of his native 
place, in order to pursue his education — a period of two 
or three years — that he found peace by believing in 
Christ. This was while he was at a public school at 

* " If he turn not, he will whet his sword : he hath bent his bow and made it 
ready." 



ENTRANCE ON THE MINISTRY. 219 

West Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland, under tlie 
care of the Rev. Samuel Finley, afterwards President 
of the College of New Jersey, with whose Church he 
was soon after received into communion. 

Mr. Macwhorter entered the College of New Jersey 
at Newark, in the year IT 5 6, at the age of 22 years, 
joining the Junior class ;* and, the College having been 
removed to Princeton in the autumn of that year, he 
received his first degree duriug the following summer, 
a few days after the decease of President Burr, and 
was one of the first class that were graduated in the 
College at that place. True to his filial affections, 
young Macwhorter was now about to return to North 
Carolina, and take counsel concerning his future course 
with that aged parent, to whose early maternal faith- 
fulness he owed so much of his character and promise. 
But Jane Macwhorter was no more ; and on receiving 
the afflicting news he abandoned the design. Having 
completed his studies in divinity, under the direction 
of the Rev. William Tennent, of Freehold, N. J., he 
was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery 
of New Brunswick, then sitting at Princeton, in the 
month of August, 1758. 

The schism in the Presbyterian Church had just been 
healed, by the amicable union of the two Synods into 
one body, by the name of the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia.f At the second meeting of this body, in 

* "Thus," says Dr. Griffin, "he began after the labors of more than half a cen- 

his public career in science in the very tury." (Funeral Sermon, p. 11.) 

place which was destined to be the scene t This Synod held its first meeting at 

of his future usefulness. The ground on Philadelphia, May 22, 1758, and Rev. Gil- 

which his youthful feet trod was reserved bert Tennent was choses as its first Mod- 

to be the resting place of his weary limbs erator. The articles of agreement on 



220 



ENTRANCE ON THE MINISTRY. 



May, 1759, the same meeting which decided on Mr. 
Brainerd's removal from Newark, Messrs. Macwhorter, 
Kirkpatrick and Latta were appointed to preach, for 
several months each, to destitute congregations in Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina ; and that no failure in the 
mission might take place, the Synod gave peremptory 
orders that the young men should be at their posts at 
a specified time, and that the Presbyteries with which 
they were connected, should " take care that these gen- 
tlemen fulfill their appointment, and neither prescribe 
nor allow them employment in our bounds, so as to 
disappoint this, our good intention.' 7 '"* 



which the union was formed, are too 
Jong to be inserted here, but deserve care- 
ful study in connection with the history ot 
the Presbyterian Church. The object, as 
stated in the preamble, was " the compro- 
mising those differences which were agi- 
tated many years ago with too much 
warmth and animosity," " the healing of 
breach, that so its hurtful consequences 
may not descend to posterity," " that all 
occasion of reproach may be removed," 
that we may carry on the great designs of 
religion to better advantage, "to prevent 
future breaches of like nature, &c. The 
first and second articles are the folllowing : 
" L Both Synods having always approved 
and received the Westminster Confession 
of Faith, and Larger and Shorter Cate- 
chisms as an orthodox and excellent sys- 
tem of Christian doctrine founded on the 
Word of God, we do still receive the same 
as the Confession of our Faith, and also 
adhere to the plan of worship, government 
and discipline contained in the Westmin- 
ster Directory, strictly enjoining it on all 
our members and probationers for the min- 
istry, that they preach and teach accord- 
ing to the form of sound words in said Con- 
fessions and Catechisms, and oppose all 
errors contrary thereto." 

"IL That when any matter is deter- 
mined by a major vote, every member 



shall either actively concur with, or pas- 
sively submit to such determination ; or if 
his conscience permit him to do neither, 
he shall, after sufficient liberty modestly 
to reason and remonstrate, peaceably with- 
draw from our communion without at- 
tempting to make any schism ; provided 
always that this shall be understood to ex- 
tend only to such determinations as the 
body shall judge indispensible in doctrine 
or Presbyterian worship." 

As to the "protest" of 1741, the Synod 
of Philadelphia declare "that they never 
judicially adopted the said protest, nor do 
account it a synodical act, but that it is to 
be considered as the act of those only who 
subscribed it." 

To guard effectually against any renewal 
of hostility, the Synod close the agree- 
ments with the following item : " that all 
former differences and disputes are laid 
aside and buried, and that no further in- 
quiry or vote shall be proposed in this 
Synod concerning these things ; but if 
any member seek a synodical inquiry, 
or declaration about any of the mat- 
ters of our past differences, it shall be 
deemed a censurable breach of this agree- 
ment, and be refused, and he be rebuked 
accordingly." — Minutes, pp. 285-88. 

* Minutes, p. 293. 



INSTALLATION AT NEWARK. 



221 



Accordingly Mr. Macwhorter, with his classmate, 
Mr. Kirkpatrick, was ordained at Cranberry, by the 
Presbytery of New Brunswick, July 4th of the same 
year.* But the ordinances of divine Providence over- 
ruled even the strict and peremptory orders of the 
Synod of New York and Philadelphia ; for the congre- 
gation in Newark being now vacant, Mr. Macwhorter 
was employed to preach for them for a single Sabbath, 
and at once all eyes were fixed on him for the future 
pastor. At the very meeting of the Presbytery at 
which he received ordination, with a view to his dis- 
tant mission, commissioners from Newark presented 
their urgent request for his services, and Mr. Tennent 
lending his influence in their favor, the plan of the 
mission was suspended; and on the reception of a 
united call from the people, he was installed during 
that same summer, at the age of twenty-five years, as 
the pastor of this Church. f In the minutes of the 
Synod at their next meeting, the only notice taken of 
this disregard of their stringent order, is the very 
quiet record that " Mr. Macwhorter's reasons for not 
going to Virginia, according to the appointment of the 
Synod last year, were sustained." J 

Mr. Macwhorter was married in the month of Octo- 
ber, 1758, shortly after he received license to preach, 
to Mary Gumming, daughter of Robert Cuinming, Esq., 
of Freehold, N. J., a respectable merchant, high sheriff 
of the county of Monmouth, and related by marriage 



* Funeral Sermon by Dr. Griffin, p. 14. He preached his first sermon here, June 
t Minutes, p. 293. Funeral Sermon. 28, 1759. 

X Minutes, p. 299. 



222 CONTENTION BETWEEN CHUECHES. 

to the family of his revered instructor, Rev. William 
Tennent.* They had five children, viz. : Mary, mar- 
ried to Samuel Beebe, merchant of New York ; Ann, 
married to Rev. George Ogilvie ; Alexander Cumming, 
counselor at law, in Newark; John, counselor at law 
in the same place, who died suddenly a few months be- 
fore his father ; and Hugh Robert, who died in infancy. 

We have already noticed the violent contentions 
which arose during the ministry of Mr. Webb, in con- 
sequence of the introduction of Episcopacy into this 
hitherto Puritan community. But u this pious bustle," 
says Dr. Macwhorter, " was not altogether about reli- 
gious principles."-}* Pecuniary claims w^ere also involved 
in it, and the question, who were the rightful owners 
of the Church property, was the subject of no little 
jealousy at the period in which he commenced his min- 
stry. 

There were now four distinct congregations within 
the limits of Newark, besides parts of others, and all 
of them, since the incorporation of the Trustees of this 
Church, legally distinct from the town. 

Two of the new congregations, namely, the Moun- 
tain Society and the Church of England, as they were 
then designated, laid claim to an equal portion with 

* Funeral Sermon by Dr. Griffin. Dr. second marriage with Miss Noble, daugh- 

G. adds, "Robert Camming, Esq., was ter by a former husband of Mrs. Tennent. 

twice married. By the first marriage he By her he had four children : the eldest 

had three children , the eldest was Alex- was Catharine, married to the Rev. Philip 

ander, who was a minister of the Gospel Stockton ; the second was Ann, married 

for several years in the city of New York, to the Rev. William Schenck ; the third 

and afterwards in the Old South Church was John Noble, now General Cumming, 

in the town of Boston, where he died, 1763; of this town; and the fourth was Peggj',. 

the second was Lawrence; the third was who died unmarried." 

Mary, (Mrs. Macwhorter.) He formed a f Manuscript History. 



PARSONAGE PROPERTY. 



223 



the First Church in the inheritance, which as they af- 
firmed, had descended from their common ancestors. 
The congregation of the First Church, on the contrary, 
maintained that they were the only rightful and legal 
representatives of the old Town of Newark, considered 
in its ecclesiastical capacity ; and, since the grant from 
the Proprietors, under which the land came into their 
possession, was expressly that of so much land "for 
each parish" and they, being the only parish then ex- 
isting in the town, had availed themselves of its pro- 
visions ; and since the deed, securing the lands in the 
hands of trustees, " for the only proper use, benefit and 
behoof of the old settlers of the town of Newark," was 
in pursuance of that grant, those who continued with 
the old congregation had the exclusive right to the 
property. 

The process of separation between civil and eccle- 
siastical affairs, which had been going on gradually for 
more than half a century, was now nearly consum- 
mated. The ministers had ceased to be elected, and 
their salaries to be voted in the town meetings ; and 
the town had virtually, though not formally, relin- 
quised its control over the parsonage property. Mean- 
while, the old Church had become incorporated, with 
power to take and hold what were its just rights in 
its own name ; and the original patentees, all of whom 
were members of that Church, being now dead, and 
the heir of the last survivor of them living at a dis- 
tance from Newark, a manifest propriety, not to say 
necessity, had arisen for making some new and more 
permanent disposition of the property in question, 



224 



PARSONAGE PROPERTY. 



Accordingly, by a concurrent act of the Town and the 
heir of the patentees — the only parties capable of act- 
ing in the matter according to any supposition — the 
title was vested in the Trustees of this Church. " At 
a town meeting on the 12th of March, 1760, it was 
voted unanimously that the Trustees of the First Pres- 
byterian Church be authorized to procure a deed of 
conveyance from David Young, heir-at-law of the last 
surviving patentee, for the said parsonage lands, in 
trust, in order that they may be the better enabled to 
take care of the same for the said Church," which deed 
the Trustees lost no time in obtaining, on the very next 
day, in due form of law. 

Now followed a series of efforts with a view to re- 
verse this procedure. The opposing party came into 
the town meeting, the year following, and proposed 
resolutions declaring dissatisfaction with what had 
been done, and directing that the lands should "be 
equally divided in quantity and quality" among the 
three congregations ; and, these resolutions being car- 
ried in the affirmative, a committee was appointed to 
divide and allot the lands accordingly. Four out of 
six of the committee proceeded to their work. But 
when the plan of division had been drawn out with 
much care,* and was reported to the town the next 
year, with the proviso that four months should be al- 
lowed for hearing objections before it should stand in 
force, the majority rejected it, "even with the limita- 



* The plan was drawn by "the Hon. be "a draught of an entry proposed to be 
David Ogden, Esq., at the request of made at a town meeting held at Newark/ ' 
some of the committee," and purported to &c. (See Town Records.) 



PAESONAGE PEOPEETY. 



225 



tion above mentioned," says the record, " it being a 
very full town meeting."* 

Meanwhile, the Trustees obtained the opinions of 
several very eminent lawyers, to the effect, that both 
by the vote of the town and by the deed of convey- 
ance from the representative of the original patentee, 
their title to the property was sound ; and, moreover, 
that the present First Presbyterian Church were the 
only true and rightful representatives of the old set- 
tlers mentioned in the original grant.f 



* The occasion of this specific statement 
in the record, seems to have been a dis- 
pute which had taken place between the 
parties, as to the fairness of the two former 
Totes. Those dissatisfied with the first 
vote alleged, that it was obtained, "during 
the time of the small pox being in town, 
when but very few of the inhabitants were 
present;" and their opponents rejoined, 
that there were "at least two hundred per- 
sons present" when that vote "was so 
unanimously" carried ; and " insisted upon 
it" that the second vote "was not fairly 
obtained, a majority being at that time in 
the negative." (See Town Records.) 

+ Among the gentlemen who became 
responsible for these opinions, were Wil- 
liam Livingston, William Smith, William 
Smith, junior, John Morin Scot, and Wil- 
liam Patterson. " I take it for granted,'' 
says the gentleman last named, "that the 
old settlers mentioned in the letters patent 
and the society incorporated and known 
by the name of the Trustees of the First 
Presbyterian Church in Newark, are the 
same persons under different descriptions. 
I am of opinion that the Trustees hold in 
fee for the use of the old settlers or First 
Presbyterian Church, in exclusion of all 
others. This is the specific use'carved out 
by the original Proprietors, and this use 
must be religiously observed; they have 
indeed designated the use and identified 
the persons who shall take it, in a very 
clear manner, and their reasons for both 



are too obvious to stand in need of recital.' 7 
It may be observed here, that this opin- 
ion seems to coincide very exactly with 
that of Chief Justice Shaw, of Massachu- 
setts, in the case of Heman Stebbing vs. 
Calvin Jennings. He is speaking of "the 
case of a town acting at the same time as 
a town and parish, of which," says he, 
"there are, or recently were, hundreds of 
instances in the Commonwealth. In that 
case one corporate organization is com- 
monly used for both purposes." He then 
supposes the case of a separation for the 
forming of a new congregation. "After 
the separation," says he, "all those rights, 
duties and obligations which belonged to 
the town in its parochial character devolve 
upon that portion of its inhabitants who 
by operation of law became successors to 
the town in that capacity ; while all those 
which belonged to the town in its munic- 
pal character, continue so to belong not- 
withstanding the erection of a new parish. 
And it may be remarked in passing, that 
this is equally the case, where the persons 
who are formed into one or several parishes, 
constitute a great majority of the inhabit- 
ants of the town. Those who became the 
successors of the town in its parochial ca- 
pacity, succeed to the whole of its pa- 
rochial rights, although they constitute 
but a small minority of its inhabitants." 

There can be no doubt, I suppose, what 
would have been the operation of such a 
decision in the case in question. 



15 



226 



PAESONAGE PEOPEETY. 



Accordingly, when the attempt was renewed in the 
town meeting six years later, and a vote to divide was 
obtained, and a committee appointed for that purpose, 
the members of the committee belonging to that 
Church refused to act ; and the Trustees entered their 
protest on the record, forbidding the procedure, de- 
claring the title to be vested in them, and " advising 
the people then met to let the parsonage lands alone." 
From this time no action of the town on the subject is 
to be found on record ; and as the property still re- 
mained in the hands of the Trustees, it is presumed 
their kind advice was, so far as the town was con- 
cerned, accepted. But the contentions, which had be- 
come very sharp, did not cease here. We learn from 
Dr. Macwhorter, that for many years they continued 
to keep the community in an agitation * " But," says 
he, " both parties wisely determined that their minis- 
ter should not be called in, but secluded from these 
disputes, and therefore he never interested himself in 
them or had any thing to do Avith them." Twenty 
years later, viz., about the years 1786 or IT 8 7, as I 

* The claim seems first to have been set congregation, the sturdy Mountaineers 

up by the Church of England, who took turned out early with axes and teams, and 

possession of, and enclosed a portion of ranged themselves in great numbers on 

the wood land. But the people at the the fence, awaiting the arrival of the foe. 

mountain, who had been accustomed to When the Newarkers arrived, hard words 

cut wood from the parsonage land for began, and still more solid arguments 

iheir miniiter, and had received for him ensued, and the Orangemen being either 

some of the rents of the parsonage meadow, the most numerous or the most valiant, 

soon and vigorously joined in the pursuit, fairly beat their opponents off the ground, 

There is a tradition, for which I am in- and sent them home with tbeir teams 

debted to the Rev. Mr. White, now minis- empty. A proposition to resort to law, 

ter of the First Church in Orange ; that a however, on the part of the Trustees, as 

report being spread on one occasion, that appears from their records, brought the 

the people of Newark were coming to cut matter to an adjustment, and the property 

wood on a certain day, from a piece of remained in their disposal, 
ground claimed and appropriated by that 



macwhoetee's eaely ministey. 



227 



learn from the same authority, the animosity was 
quieted by the Trustees of the First Church, granting 
a certain dividend of the out-lands to the Episcopal- 
ians, and another dividend to the Mountain Society, 
now called Orange, with which these different societies 
acknowledged themselves content. These dividends 
were made upon condition of these societies taking 
leases under the Trustees of the First Presbyterian con- 
gregation. 

Mr. Macwhorter appears to have enjoyed, in a high 
degree, the attachment and confidence of his people ; 
and though we have few distinct notices of the partic- 
ular results of his ministry in the early part of it, it is 
apparent that it was attended with no inconsiderable 
success. There was " a revival of religion" during the 
winter of 1764-5, as Dr. Griffin informs us, when the 
pastor was nearly laid aside from his official duties, by 
"a hectic, accompanied with expectoration of blood, 
which he contracted while performing a mission in 
North Carolina, in the course of the summer previous. 
Again in 1772, there was a second special religious im- 
pulse, " which proved," says the same authority, " more 
extensive than the former, and continued about two 
years." 

Although not a native of New England, Mr. Mac- 
whorter, like his predecessors, maintained an intimate 
connection and correspondence during his life, with 
distinguished ministers in that region, and was held in 
high estimation by them. In a letter, dated December 
23, 1763, we find him writing to Dr. Bellamy, "at the 
appointment of the Presbytery in behalf of the Church 



228 



INVITATIONS TO REMOVE. 



of Newark Mountain," saying, " I hope you will recom- 
mend them some young man whom you esteem for his 
knowledge of the truth," and desiring a correspondence 
with the distinguished Connecticut theologian. Several 
subsequent letters, still extant, and relating to impor- 
tant matters of theology and ecclesiastical discipline, 
"bear witness that his desire was not fruitless.* 

During this period he was often solicited to remove 
and take the charge of other congregations. The year 
following the mission above referred to, as we learn 
from the minutes of the Synod, " a call for the Rev. 
Mr. Macwhorter from Hopewell and Centre congrega- 
tions in North Carolina, was brought in by the com- 
mittee of overtures : but the Synod apprehending that 
some other persons may be more conveniently sent to 
North Carolina, did not present the call to him." A 
similar request was presented about the same time from 
other congregations or settlements in the same colony. 
In the year 1766, soon after a short visit to Boston on 
account of his health, the Old South Church in that 
place, then recently made vacant by the death of his 
brother-in-law, the Rev. Alexander Cumming, made 
overtures to him to become their pastor. But, as they 

* For extracts from this correspondence issue, God only knows. And there seems 
I am indebted to the kindness of Rev- to be more solemn attention to the word 
Richard Webster. In one of them bear- preached this winter than formerly. May 
ing date Jan. 28, 1764, there is an obvious God overrule it for good." In the same 
allusion to the incipient manifestations of letter he propounds the question, " Of 
that religious revival above referred to what avail means are, seeing man's aver- 
as having taken place in the course of that sion to holiness is such he neither can nor 
year. He says: "I have very little reli desires to have it removed?" and observes, 
gious news to acquaint you with ; there in answer apparently to a question of his 
are some few young persons in my congre- correspondent, " As to new books, I think 
gation that seem to be under very serious I don't live in a printing part of the world, 
concern about their salvation ; how it will I see but very few." 



MISSIONAKY EXCUESIOIST. 



229 



had " conscientious scruples about calling a settled pas- 
tor," and lie was not prepared to accommodate those 
scruples, "by taking a dismission from his own people 
at their suggestion, in order to be a suitable subject 
for their call, the business went no further. 

The mission to North Carolina, already referred to T 
was performed under the direction of the Synod, in 
accordance with a frequent practice of that body, to 
detach pastors temporarily from their stated charge^ 
and send them away to supply destitute regions. 

In pursuance of their work, the two missionaries^ 
Messrs. Macwhorter and Spencer, were directed to form 
new congregations, adjust their boundaries, ordain 
elders, administer the ordinances of the gospel, and give 
instruction and aid in discipline, government and wor- 
ship.* On this eminently apostolic mission went forth 
these two beloved brethren; and returned to the 
Synod with their report of its fulfillment at the next 
meeting. The pulpit of this Church was supplied three 

* Minutes, p. 339. As the resolution Churches, and the future settlement of the 
touching this matter may serve to illus- Gospel among them. And also, that they 
trate the usages of the period, I give it assure those people wherever they go, that 
entire: "The Synod, more particularly this Synod has their interest much at 
considering the state of many congrega- heart, and will neglect no opportunities of 
tions to the southward, and particularly in affording them proper candidates and 
North Carolina, and the great importance supplies, to the utmost of their power, 
of having those congregations properly Ordered, that the clerk give said mission- 
organized, appoint the Rev. Messrs. Elihu aries an attested copy of this minute, and 
Spencer and Alexander Macwhorter, to go proper testimonials, signed by the moder- 
as missionaries for that purpose, that ator and clerk. And, that these brethren 
they may form societies, help them in ad- may not suffer by so long and expensive 
justing their bounds, ordain elders, ad a journey, the Synod agree to defray 
minister sealing ordinances, instruct the their expenses, and make them a proper 
people in discipline, and finally direct acknowledgment for the damages they 
them in their after conduct, particularly in may sustain in domestic affairs, and for 
what manner they shall proceed to obtain this purpose a collection is ordered 
the stated ministry, and whatever else may through our bounds, and each Presbytery 
appear useful or necessary for those is required to see it be duly observed." 



230 ESTIMATION AMONG HIS BRETHEEN. 



Sabbaths by Mr. Mills, and the rest of the time by the 
Presbytery of New York. On their return the traveling 
expenses of the missionaries were paid according to the 
resolution ; but when a committee had reported on the 
amount due to these brethren for their services and 
sacrifices, the minutes tell us that " Mr. Macwhorter 
returned to the Synod all the money of the Synod's 
collection allowed by the committee." In the discharge 
of this mission, Mr. Macwhorter, as I have already 
intimated, contracted a disease which " for two years 
threatened to put an early period to his usefulness," 
but he recovered soon after, and enjoyed better health 
than before. Except in the performance of this mis- 
sion, which could not have occupied more than two or 
three months, I cannot learn that he was much absent 
from his people during the first eighteen years. 

During this time he was steadily advancing in the 
confidence of his brethren in the ministry, and in use- 
fulness and influence in the Church at large. In the 
year 1766, he was chosen one of the clerks, and four 
years later, viz., in 1770, Moderator of the Synod. 
Twice he was appointed to preach before that body, 
once as its previous Moderator, and once as the substi- 
tute for another, who had died since his appointment. 
In 1766 the corporation of Yale College bestowed upon 
him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. His 
name appears on almost all important committees 
which were appointed by the Synod towards the lat- 
ter part of the period now under review. Dr. Griffin 
remarks that he was " among the first subscribers to 
the widow's fund, which was established in 1761, and 



AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



231 



in later life was for many years a director of that be- 
nevolent institution." "In 1YY2 he was chosen a 
trustee of the college of New Jersey, and continued a 
very important member of that board till a few months 
before his death." 

But now came on the memorable period of the 
American revolutionary war, memorable in the history 
of Newark and its vicinity, hardly less than in that of 
any other spot throughout the country. In the month 
of May, 17Y5, just one month after the battle of Lex- 
ington and Concord, the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia addressed a pastoral letter to the Churches 
under their care, in which, disclaiming all agency 
" in inflaming the minds of the people, or urging them 
to acts of violence and disorder," they express very 
clearly the conviction, that the whole continent are 
determined to defend their rights by force of arms, 
and, " if the British ministry shall continue to enforce 
their claims by violence, a lasting and bloody contest 
must ensue." On the basis of this conviction they 
proceed to exhort the people to be prepared 
for death, assuring them, " especially the young 
and vigorous" among them, that " there is no soldier 
so undaunted as the pious man, no army so formida- 
ble as those who are superior to the fear of death." 
At the same time, insisting earnestly on loyalty to the 
king, union among the colonies, a spirit of humanity 
in the scene of action, and the preservation of peace 
till the last possible moment, they add that "that 
man will fight most bravely who never fights till it is 
necessary, and who ceases to fight as soon as the ne- 



232 DAY OF FASTING AND THANKSGIVING. 

cessity is over."* The letter was drawn up by a com- 
mittee, of which the patriotic Witherspoon was at the 
head, and five hundred copies of it were ordered to be 
printed; and it seems to have been adopted with 
entire unanimity, except that "Mr. Halsey," as the 
record states, "dissents from that paragraph of said 
letter which contains the declarations of allegiance." 

Following up the recommendation of the Synod, the 
Presbytery of New York observed, for many succes- 
sive years, a part of the last Thursday of every month 
as a season of special prayer, on account of the gloomy 
state of public affairs ; and from time to time set apart 
days to be observed in fasting, humiliation and prayer, 
for the same object, resolving likewise in one instance, 
" to mingle thanks with our prayers for our innu- 
merable mercies," amidst the tokens of God's dis- 
pleasure. The meeting, from whose minutes these 
last words are extracted, was held at Mendham, N. J., 
on the tenth of October, lY^f when a comparison of 
dates shows us that the country's cause was in a most 
perilous condition, New York having just before been 
evacuated, and being already in possession of the enemy; 
and when the American army, defeated on Long Island, 
and much dispirited, was apparently fast waning to no- 
thing. It marks the troubled condition of the times, 
that at this meeting, only six ministers and three elders 
are reported as present, and twenty-one ministers as ab- 
sent; and it shows equally the pious confidence and 
sacred cheerfulness of that little band, that in such cir- 



* Minutes, pp. 466, 467. 



t See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 



ARMY IN NEWARK. 



233 



cumstances, tliey could not forget that their beloved 
country had still mercies to be thankful for. 

It is well known, that during all that memorable 
struggle, there were to be found no firmer and more 
zealous and self-sacrificing patriots than the ministers 
of the Presbyterian Church ; and probably the remark 
recently made to me by an aged woman, who well 
remembers those stirring scenes, was not far from the 
truth, viz : that " black coats were nearly as offensive 
to the British then, as red coats* were to the inhabit- 
ants." Mr. Macwhorter shared very largely in the 
patriotic feeling which animated his brethren, and pos- 
sessing naturally great decision and activity, could not 
remain idle when such a struggle was going on almost 
at his very door. 

Washington came to Newark with his retreating 
army on the 22d of November, just two days after the 
day of mingled fasting and thanksgiving. And who 
can tell how much of the heroic calmness, the sublime 
undaunted resolution, which are said to have marked 
his deliberations during the week that he and his ex- 
hausted and broken forces spent here, may have been 
given him from heaven, in answer to those grateful 
prayers ? But the foe was in pursuit. Lord Corn- 
wallis, it is said, entered Newark on the same day that 
Washington left it. Nor did the patriot pastor re- 
main behind. Either accompanying, or soon following 
the retreat of the army, he, with one of his brethren,f 
repaired to the encampment on the Pennsylvania shore, 



* i. e. British troops. 



t Rev. Mr. Vanarsdale, of Springfield. 



234 DK. MACWHOETER WITH THE AEMY. 

opposite Trenton, and, by the invitation of Washing- 
ton, was present and assisted at the council of war, 
which decided on the memorable crossing of the Del- 
aware and those achievements consequent npon it, by 
which, through the favor of heaven, despair was 
changed to hope, and the dying cause of American lib- 
erty resuscitated. Dr. Griffin informs us, that, during 
the previous year, viz., in 1775, "he was appointed by 
Congress to visit that district of North Carolina to 
which he had been before, to employ his influence to 
bring over the enemies of the revolution to the Amer- 
ican interest," but adds, that " whatever zeal and abil- 
ities were exerted in this enterprise, it issued, agreeably 
to his prediction to Dr. Franklin, with little success." 
It is probable that he went on this journey charged 
with a double commission ; for corresponding to this 
statement, I find the following minute in the records 
of the Presbytery at its meeting in May, 1776. "Mr. 
Macwhorter reports, that he has fulfilled the mission 
to North Carolina agreeable to the appointment of 
Presbytery."* "In the summer of 1778," says Dr. 
Griffin, " at the solicitation of his friend, General Knox, 
he accepted the chaplainship of his brigade, which lay 
then with the main army at White Plains," where 
Washington was among his frequent auditors, and he 
was often Washington's guest. It was while engaged 
in this patriotic service that a visitation from God upon 
his family in the form of a stroke of lightning, which 
prostrated and well nigh destroyed the life of Mrs. 



* See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 



PAESONAGE eifled by the enemy. 



235 



Macwhorter, called liiin suddenly from his public sta- 
tion, to minister to the necessities of his own household. 

During the period to which we now refer, every 
thing was in the greatest confusion in this community. 
The North Kiver, being frozen over during a consider- 
able part of one winter, afforded free passage for dep- 
redators. Cattle were seized and driven away by par- 
ties of refugees ; houses were plundered and burned ; 
and citizens taken out of their beds, and made to 
march nine miles, barefooted and unclad, on the ice 
and frozen earth, to New York. Dr. Macwhorter him- 
self speaks of having "fled before the enemy in 1776, 
when the British troops took possession of the town," 
at which time the ancient records of this Church, with 
many books of his own, being left in the parsonage 
house, were destroyed. Many of the inhabitants 
escaped to places of greater security, and those who 
remained were in constant apprehension of surprises. 
Public worship was held but seldom, and that by as- 
sembling the people on a special notice. When the 
pastor was at home, he was obliged to have a sentinel 
stationed at his house for his protection, and it is said 
there was an old man, now recently deceased, who 
remembered having frequently "stood guard" at the 
door of the parsonage.* 

In such circumstances, it can hardly excite surprise, 

* The relations which he sustained to siah Hornblower, Joseph Riggs, and Lewis 
the public affairs of the country about this Ogden, be a committee to give such in- 
time, are indicated by the following vote structions to our Legislatures in this 
of the Town of Newark, under date of county from time to time, according as 
March 9, 1779. " Voted that the Reverend occasion may require." (Newark Town 
Alexander Macwhorter, Mr. Chapman, Jo- Records, p. 198.) 



236 



DR. MACWHORTER's REMOVAL. 



that Dr. Macwhorter should have lent an ear to the 
calls of Providence, summoning him to other spheres 
of ministerial service. His labors here were nearly 
impracticable, and his means of support had become 
entirely inadequate.* Accordingly, after receiving 
one or two invitations to important stations,f a call 
having been presented to him from the congregation 
of Charlotte, Mechlenburg Co., North Carolina, to take 
the pastoral charge of that people, together with the 
presidency of an important literary institution, then in 
its infancy in that place, J he accepted the call, and, 
without opposition on the part of the people of New- 
ark, who, with friendly liberality, furnished him " with 
every needed article for his journey," was dismissed 
from his charge, and, removing with his family to 
North Carolina, in October, 17 7 9, became the pastor 
of another people. But no sooner was he established 
in his new station, than he was again compelled to 
make his escape from the encroachments of war. Lord 
Cornwallis, from whose army he fled in Newark, en- 
tered Charlotte. Dr. Macwhorter lost his library and 
furniture, and almost every thing he possessed, and 
finding no prospect of a quiet course of usefulness there, 

* The following minute in the records take such other steps as he thinks proper, 

of the Trustees of this congregation, serves and apply the money to his own use," 

to illustrate this point. "Whereas, a 11 March, 1778. (Records, p. 1.) 

quantity of wood has been cut off the par- t Dr. Griffin states that in the month of 

sonage for the use of the troops, and no June, 1778, he received an application for 

regular account kept thereof, and whereas his services from the Congregational 

the high price of every article of life ren- Church in the city of Charleston, S. C, 

ders it very difficult for our worthy minis- and a few months later, a regular call from 

ter to subsist, it is agreed by this board, that congregation. (See Funeral Sermon, 

that the Rev. Dr. Alexander Macwhorter p. 19.) 

be authorized to agree and compound with % Charlotte Academy, 
the quarter-masters for the said wood, or 



RESETTLEMENT IX NEWARK. 



237 



left the place in the autumn of 1780, and made his 
way back as far as Abington, where he engaged to 
preach for the winter. 

Meanwhile, the congregation here had remained 
without a pastor. A Mr. Fish,* as I have been in- 
formed, supplied the pulpit for a time, but he was not 
settled, and the attachment of the people to their old 
shepherd remained unabated. By special invitation, he 
made them a visit in the month of February, 1781, 
and before the end of April, he was back with all his 
family, and reinstated in his pastoral rights and jariv- 
ileges.f 

The question has been raised whether Dr. Macwhor- 
ter was the pastor of the Church, or only a stated 
supply, during the succeeding years of his ministry. 
A brief statement of facts will suffice, I think, to set 
that cpestion at rest. Dr. Macwhorter's testimonials 
of dismission and recommendation were voted in the 
Presbytery, at a meeting held in Newark, June 11th, 
1779, but were not furnished by the Clerk till the 
order was renewed, on the 19th of October following. 
On the 9th of May, 1781, he again appeared in the 

* The records of the Trustees contain lady, who is wiser in her generation than 

some notices of an order to pay Mr. Fish, the children of light, declares it will be as 

just after Dr. M.'s return. impracticable to maintain his wasteful se- 

t The following extract, from a letter of raglio as to keep the light house in forage ; 

the Hon. Wm. Peartree Smith to his son, and though I really have the charity to 

is at least amusing. It is, I believe, with- think she would open her purse * * * 

out date. with proper Christian prudence, to feed 

" I send you a letter from your friend, the Gospel minister, yet she can by no 

Dr. Rogers, bro't hither by Mr. Fish, means brook it, that the pious morsels she 

Pray, do you know that old Parson Mac- offers on the altar, should be immediately 

whorter, with his hopeful flock, are all got gobbled by his group of insatiable ungos- 

safe to Abington, a place not far from pelled gossips." The whole letter is full 

Philadelphia? The good old folks here of fun, and probably answered its intent to 

now talk of recalling him. My economic provoke a little good natured merriment. 



238 



RESETTLEMENT IN NEWARK, 



Presbytery, when Mr. Baldwin, his elder, made the 
statement that the congregation in Newark had invited 
Dr. Macwhorter to re-settle with them, and Dr. Mac- 
whorter himself declared that he had accepted the 
invitation.* The minntes of the same meeting contain 
the following entry: "Dr. Macwhorter having been 
driven from his congregation in North Carolina by the 
enemy, and now residing in our bounds, the Presby- 
tery do receive him as a stated corresponding member, 
till he receive a regular dismission." A few days later, 
viz., on the lYth of the same month, Dr. Macwhorter 
appeared in the Synod, and stated that the distressing 
circumstances of North Carolina, arising from the war, 
had rendered the objects of his removal abortive, and 
prevented him from obtaining a regular dismission 
from the Orange Presbytery." " Whereupon, it was 
ordered that Dr. Macwhorter be re-united to the New 
York Presbytery." Before the next meeting of that 
body however, he had obtained his credentials, and 
was enrolled accordingly.^ 

The only doubt about his pastoral connection, has 
arisen from the fact that he was not formally re-in- 
stalled. But, for this omission there were sufficient 
reasons. He had been absent from his old people less 
than two years, and meanwhile they had had no other 
pastor. A formal installation would naturally appear 
to them almost superfluous. Besides, the distracted 
state of the times made it difficult for that body to 
assemble ; and it is extremely doubtful, whether they 



* Minutes of the Presbytery of New t Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia 
York. and New York. 



RESETTLEMENT IN NEWARK, 



239 



held any regular meetings for a year or two previous 
to Dr. Macwhorter's dismission. The whole body was 
almost constantly absent from the Synod, and, from 
the same causes, Dr. Macwhorter's dismission from the 
Presbytery of Orange could not be obtained till he 
had been actually officiating as minister in his old sta- 
tion for a considerable time. 

On the other hand, it is well known that Dr. Mac- 
whorter always regarded himself as the regular pastor, 
and so speaks of himself repeatedly in his writings ; 
and the people likewise so regarded him, and so spoke 
of him and addressed him.* The Presbytery too, 
recognized him as the pastor, in the most explicit 
terms; and his colleague, Dr. Griffin, was settled ac- 
cordingly, as the " co-pastor of Dr. Macwhorter." 

Nor is this the only case on record, in which a pas- 
toral relation has been constituted without a formal 
installation. The Rev. John Murray was removed 
from Booth Bay to Newburyport, Mass., by a simple 
vote of his Presbytery, sitting at a different place ; 
and, in the early Minutes of the Synod of Philadel- 
phia, then the highest judicatory of the Presbyterian 
Church, there is a formal judgment pronounced on a 
case directly in point. I refer to the case of the Rev. 
William Tennent, senior, of JSTeshaminy, a portion of 
whose people attempted to deny him pastoral rights, 
because he had not been formally installed. That 
judgment is, u That Mr. Tennent, having in all respects 
acted, and been esteemed and looked upon, not only 

* See an address to Dr. M., prefixed to the published volumes of his discourses. 



240 



NEWAEK EECOVEES ITS PEOSPEEITY. 



by this Synod, but also by the congregation of Ne- 
shaininy, and particularly by the appellants them- 
selves, as the pastor of that people, that he is still to 
be esteemed as the pastor of that people, notwithstand- 
ing the want of a formal installment among them" — 
an omission which the Synod goes on to declare, " is 
far from nullifying the pastoral relation."* The 
question may perhaps be regarded as of little moment, 
but as it has been raised recently, in some of the pub- 
lic papers, it seems due to historic verity, to say 
nothing more, that the true state of the case should 
be exhibited. 

The town of Newark suffered severely in all its in- 
terests during the war, but when the war closed, Dr. 
Macwhorter tells us, " it soon recovered from its dam- 
ages, increased fast in its population, and quickly 
began to flourish, especially in manufactories."f Just 
at the close of that period, in 1783, says Dr. Griffin, 
"the trustees of Washington Academy in Somerset 
county, Maryland, ignorant that Dr. Macwhorter was 
permanently settled, offered him the Presidency of 
that institution with a salary of 300 pounds a year." 
But though the principal object of the institution was 
the education of pious youth for the gospel ministry, 
and though the neighboring county opened an ex- 
tensive field for his ministerial labors, his attachment 
to the congregation, which had so recently given him 
such generous proofs of affection, rendered it impossi- 
ble for him to accept the invitation." J He was heart- 



* Minutes of the Synod of Philadelphia, t Manuscript History, 
p. 125. j Funeral Sermon, pp. 21-22. 



EEVIVAL OE 1784. 



241 



ily glad to get back among his old friends, and the 
people were quite as glad to bid him welcome and to 
retain him among them. 

The next year, viz., the year 1784, was distinguished 
by the commencement of a very great and lasting re- 
vival of religion in this congregation. Among the 
seasons of special encouragement, which had distin- 
guished the earlier period of Dr. Macwhorter's ministry, 
was the one which occurred just before the breaking 
out of the war. But the troubles which so soon fol- 
lowed, seemed to turn the thoughts of the people away 
from their spiritual interests, and a large part of the 
supposed converts, it is said, went back and walked no 
more with Christ's followers. But the effusion of 
divine influences experienced at the period now re- 
ferred to, surpassed, as the aged people who remember 
it say, all that went before during their memory, and 
all that has followed. It was at a time of great reli- 
gious declension every where, and especially in this 
congregation. Dancing, frolicking, and all sorts of 
worldly amusements absorbed the thoughts of the 
young, even in the most respectable and religious fam- 
ilies ; and among the lower class, vice and dissipation, 
the bitter dregs of the long and demoralizing war, 
which had but just ended, prevailed to a frightful 
extent. At this juncture, a stranger preached at an 
evening service. There were no pews in the old 
church, but the people sat upon long benches — the 
men on one side and the women on the other — while 
in the gallery sat the young people, distributed on 
opposite sides in the same way. In the midst of his 

16 



242 



REVIVAL OF 1784. 



sermon the preacher paused, and looking up to the 
young people in the gallery, referred to what he had 
learned respecting their habits, and asked in a solemn 
and earnest manner, " Will you go dancing to hell V 
The countenances of two or three fell immediately, 
their heads dropped, and it was soon evident that the 
"bow thus drawn at a venture, had sped an arrow of 
the Almighty, destined to slay the enmity of many a 
wicked heart. 

From that time one after another became deeply 
anxious about their soul's safety. The alarm spread 
from heart to heart, and from house to house. Worldly 
gayety was abandoned. Religion became the theme 
of conversation in all companies. Praying circles and 
conference meetings were held in different parts of the 
town; an almost universal reformation of outward 
habits was effected ; large numbers were converted and 
gave evidence of a radical spiritual change, among 
them some of the most desperate characters in the 
place, and for two years the whole face of society 
became entirely changed. 

I state these facts on the authority of three or four 
aged people, who remember them well, and all of 
whom tell substantially the same story. Dr. Griffin 
states that " at no period of Dr. Macwhorter's ministry 
was he observed to be so laden with a sense of ever- 
lasting things, and so ardent in his desire to win souls 
to Christ. Besides his labors on the Sabbath, he 
preached several times in the week, and spent a part 
of almost every day in catechizing, exhorting from 
house to house, or attending religious societies." " In 



IMPROVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 



243 



this precious season," he adds, " more than a hundred 
souls were added to the Church." But it was not so 
much the number of the converts, as the deep and 
universal influence of the heavenly impulse, among a 
people then comparatively few, that gave distinction 
to this remarkable effusion of the Divine Spirit. 

It appears from a statement of Dr. Griffin, that one 
of the results of this revival was an important change 
in the mode of administering the government of the 
Church. The " half way covenant," to which we have 
already had occasion to advert as a measure particu- 
larly repugnant to the views of the first settlers, had 
in process of time, no one knows how or when, found 
its way into the Church and become confirmed in the 
habits and prejudices of the people. Dr. Macwhorter 
found it here, and knew not how to banish it. As 
early as April 16, 1764, in one of his letters to Dr. * 
Bellamy, we find him expressing his dissatisfaction in 
the following explicit terms : " You ask me what is 
the practice in Churches our way ? Much the same as 
you represent it in the Churches your way. Almost 
every body has their children baptized, but few come 
to the Lord's Supper. Some of our best ministers 
hold that persons may have the sacrament of baptism 
who are not fit to come to the Lord's Supper. Some 
are in Mr. Stoddard's scheme that unbelievers ought 
to attend both ordinances. And some few, but very 
few, are of the sentiment I have meant to express in 
this paper, and we can't act up to our sentiments. I 
have been struggling to act upon principle, but I can't, 
in hardly any thing, get matters brought to my mind. 



244 



IMPKOVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 



Our Churches I look upon in a most ragged, shattered 
condition. May God pour out His Spirit, and grant 
us a reformation, both in discipline and doctrine."* 
At the period to which I now refer, Dr. Macwhorter 
began a vigorous effort to produce a reformation. 
"One evening," says Dr. Griffin, "in the autumn of 
1Y85, when the Dr.'s mind was deeply impressed with 
divine things, he expressed to two of his friends in a 
private conversation, in which he was unusually tender 
and communicative, his concern for the want of disci- 
pline, and the looseness which prevailed in the Church, 
which he attributed to what has been called the half 
way practice. It is still in the recollection of those 
persons in what a solemn and indignant manner he 
deplored this practice, which he averred was contrary 
to the usage of the primitive Church and the opinion 
of the best fathers." In. this conversation, Dr. G. 
adds, "he proceeded in a distinct manner, to sketch 
the plan which he approved ; which was precisely the 
same that the Session afterwards sanctioned "f 

Meanwhile a similar dissatisfaction had been 
awakened in the minds of a portion of his people. 
Remonstrances and resistance followed and the im- 
patience of a few, who could not wait for the tardy 
movements of reform, created difficulty, and even led to 
secession, and finally with some other causes resulted in 
an attempt to found a separate religious society. | The 

* Extract of a letter furnished by Rev. worth and many eccentricities. Among 

Richard Webster. the good enterprises which he attempted, 

t Funeral Sermon, p. 23. was the forming of an association for 

% The leader in this movement was "relieving the immediate wants of the 

Moses N. Combs, a man of considerable poor f schooling poor children, and to con- 



IMPROVEMENT IN DISCIPLINE. 



245 



pastor, though he did not approve of these measures, 
pursued the object in a more regular way, with equal 
resoluteness. He reasoned against the offensive prac- 
tice, both in public and private, and at length, although 
many were strongly attached to the old custom, and 
many were fearful of an innovation, the Session came 
unanimously to the decision, that, " from that time no 
persons should own the covenant with a view to offer 
their children in baptism, and to neglect the Lord's 
Supper; and that the examination of candidates for 
admission to communion, which had been left to the 
minister only, should in future be conducted before 
the Session."* 

I have already spoken of the deficiency of Dr. Mac- 
whorter's means of support during the continuance of 



verse about the things that concern the 
kingdom of God." Zealous for the re- 
formation of the Church, this association 
sent a committee to the Session, praying 
them to take measures to abolish the of- 
fensive practice ; but not succeeding as 
they wished, a portion of them withdrew 
from communion. For a time they at- 
tended worship and were admitted to oc- 
casional communion with the church in 
Orange, and afterwards commenced sepa- 
rate worship in Newark. One of the com- 
plaints they made against the Church was 
its uniting with those who were not church 
members in supporting public worship, 
building meeting houses, &c, all which 
they regarded as being " unequally yoked 
with unbelievers." Mr. Combs was a tan- 
ner and shoemaker by trade, and at one 
time was very successful in business, and 
became rich. He erected a wooden build- 
ing for the use of his society, and became 
their preacher. "Silver was showered 
upon him," he said, " so plentifully that 
he did not know what else to do with it." 
The society did not keep together many 
years, and several of its members at length 



applied for restoration, and on proper ac- 
knowledgments, were restored to member- 
ship in the church. 

* See Dr. Griffin's Funeral Sermon, 
p. 24. The vote, as it stands on the Min- 
utes of the Session, is not as explicit on 
the first point as Dr. Griffin states it, 
though it may be presumed, the effect of 
it was in accordance with his representa- 
tion. It bears date March 28, 1794, and 
is in the form of a series of resolu- 
tions, recommended for the adoption of 
the Church. Among them are explicit 
provisions for an examination of candi- 
dates for sealing ordinances before the 
Session, the exclusion of immoral men 
and unbelievers from both sacraments, 
the determination to exercise discipline 
more faithfully than before, and the dec- 
laration " that (baptized) children are 
members of the Cburch, and that parents 
shall be accountable for the behavior of 
their children till they shall arrive to the 
years of maturity ; then the children shaU 
be dealt with for immoralities as other 
members of the Church." (Records, vol. 
i, pp. 47-48. 



246 



DEFICIENCY OF FUNDS. 



the war. The precise amount of his nominal salary at 
that time, I do not know ; but it seems to have been 
irregularly paid for some years after. The mode of 
gathering it was chiefly that of voluntary subscription. 
But though various methods were adopted to quicken 
delinquents, the subscriptions often fell far into ar- 
rears in respect to payment. Twice, viz., in the years 
1785 and 1786, the Trustees adopted the somewhat 
singular expedient of requesting the minister to call a 
meeting of the congregation, and " preach a sermon on 
that day," " that a state of the funds may be laid be- 
fore them, and some mode fallen into to increase the 
same." Partly as a means of eking out a scanty in- 
come, Dr. Macwhorter was in the practice of teaching 
a small school. But on the 16th of March, 1786, the 
day, as a comparison of dates shows, on which the 
Trustees had requested the sermon to be preach- 
ed, the congregation after desiring Dr. Macwhorter 
" to leave the chair and go out, as there was some bu- 
siness to be done which referred personally to him," 
voted " that Dr. Macwhorter's salary be raised to three 
hundred pounds a year, and that he be requested to 
give up his school, or get an usher, that he may be 
enabled to visit his congregation more." To avoid 
irregularities in future, it was also then voted, " that 
this salary be raised by tax."* 

* See Records of the Trustees. The sup- Thursday, to provide the said wood," and 
ply of firewood, probably from the par- it is further on record, " that a motion was 
sonage land, seems to have been a sepa- made and seconded, that a vote should be 
rate matter, and to have been provided taken whether a supper should be fur- 
still in a voluntary way. At a meeting nished on that day for those who assist in 
called for the purpose of consulting about getting the said wood. It was accordingly 
it on the 8th of November, 1793, 1 find a taken, and it passed in the negative." 
vote appointing a particular day, "next 



HOUSE OF WOKSHIP KEPAIRED. 



247 



The second house of worship had now become man- 
ifestly inadequate to the wants of the congregation. 
Dr. Macwhorter states that in less than fifty years 
after its erection it became too small to contain com- 
fortably the people. In the year 1755, a proposition 
was made to repair and enlarge it, but " after consult- 
ing various architects," the decision was only to repair 
it and give it a new roof, and this decision was carried 
into effect the following year.* The people however, 
were not satisfied with what had been done. Various 
meetings were held on the subject, especially during 
the period extending from 1768 to 1773. At length, 
in the year 1774, under the stimulus given to the 
spirit of enterprise by the religious improvement al- 
ready referred to, the erection of u a new and large 



* It is scarcely to be wondered at that 
the people should have felt great reluct- 
tance to demolish this venerable edifice, 
associated as it must have been in their 
minds with so many memorable scenes. 
There the college of New Jersey had been 
cradled; there David Brainerd had been 
set apart to the office of his heroic minis- 
try; there Whitefield had poured forth 
his melting eloquence, and there the Spirit 
of God had displayed in wonderful scenes, 
his converting power. The building, as I 
have stated, was about forty-four feet 
square. The pulpit stood on the west side, 
between two windows. Before the pulpit 
was a seat for the leader of the singing, 
where for many years, tradition says, 
Mr. John Treat Crane, a great-grand- 
son of Governor Treat, presided with great 
admiration. On each side of the pulpit 
was a large square pew ; one was occupied 
by the minister's family and the other by 
such families as by a kind of general con- 
sent were regarded as the aristocracy of 
the town. An aged man tells me how 
well he remembers the figure which the 



Misses used to cut as they passed up 

the aisle with rustling silks and tossings 
of the head, to take the undisputed place 
of preferment. The rest of the house was 
seated with long benches, and in the mid- 
dle aisle descended the bell rope, where 
the sexton stood to perform his duty in the 
midst of the congregation. 

A tradition of the preaching of Whitefield 
in the old house is thus related by Rev. Ste- 
phen Dodd, of East Haven, Ct. "The 
second wife of Moses Farrand was Dorcas 
Prudden. She told me that once when Mr. 
Whitefield came there to preach she was 
twelve years old, and as he came up and 
entered the pulpit, she eyed him with dis- 
trust, but before he got through his 
prayer herself and all the congregatioa 
melted down, and the sermon filled the 
house with groans and tears. The next 
time he came, as soon as he entered the 
pulpit, the assembly were weeping. It 
was so great that the pulpit window was 
taken out, and he preached through the 
window to the people in the burying 
ground." » 



248 



PEESENT CHURCH ERECTED. 



church" was undertaken in earnest. The subscription 
agreed upon was immediately filled to the amount of 
.£2000, a site was selected, materials brought together 
and trenches for the foundations actually dug. But 
the breaking out of the war just at that time, frus- 
trated the plan ; it was abandoned, and the materials 
provided were soon scattered and lost * 

But the war was now ended ; and the affairs of the 
congregation being once more in a prosperous state, 
the good design was resumed. The foundations were 
commenced in the month of September, 1787. Tradi- 
tion informs me, that when the appointed day came, 
the male members of the congregation assembled 
on the ground, and took their stations according to 
age and office. The pastor standing at the north- 
east corner made a short address and offered a prayer. 
Then he broke the ground, by taking out with his 
own hand the first spadeful of earth. Deacon Caleb 
Wheeler, standing by his side, took the next, and then 
the rest followed in their turns till the whole were at 
work, and the opening of the trenches was completed 
in a few hours. The erection of this large and beau- 
tiful edifice, a very serious undertaking for the people 
as they were then situated, was due in a great measure 
to the indomitable zeal and perseverance of Dr. Mac- 

* It was to stand on "school-house hill," the bell on an ox team, and buried it in 

that is, as I learn, on the south side of the woods known as the "short swamps," 

Market Street west of Broad, where was near the highway now known as Elm 

then a considerable elevation. Dr. M. street, and about a mile from Mulberry 

says, the people were not perfectly agreed street. When the peace was resto red, the 

about the location. On the breaking out good Deacons disinterred the concealed 

of the war, it is said, the Deacons, — Caleb treasure and brought it to town again, and 

Wheeler and Ebenezer Baldwin,— loaded probably used it for the benefit of the new. 

all the metal which had been collected for edifice. 



NEW MODE OF ELECTING TRUSTEES. 



249 



whorter. " So zealous was lie to serve and animate 
the congregation," says Dr. Griffin, "that during the 
following winter, he was daily in the forests selecting 
timber which had been given him, and encouraging 
the workmen." And when we consider how the work 
was carried on, namely, by joint contributions of labor 
and materials from the whole congregation, it is truly 
wonderful, that an edifice of such beauty of propor- 
tions and completeness of finish should have been 
accomplished.* Truly it stands a noble monument, 
both " of the generosity and public spirit of the so- 
ciety," and not less " of the love and indefatigable ex- 
ertions" of one of the most illustrious of its pastors.f 
The house was ready for permanent use, and first reg- 
ularly opened for public worship on the first day of 
January, 1791.J 

A few years after the completion of this edifice, viz., 
in the year 1794, the change was made to which I 
have already alluded, in the mode of electing the 
Trustees under the charter. The Session to whom the 
whole power was intrusted by that instrument, en- 
gaged to call together the congregation on the first 

* Dr. Macwhorter himself, with an air t Funeral Sermon, p. 25. 

of exultation by no means to be cen- % A tablet inserted in the front wall of 

sured, thus describes it : "Its dimensions the tower bears the following inscription, 

are one hundred feet in length, including said to hare been written by Hon. Wm. 

the steeple, which projects eight feet. The Peartree Smith. 

steeple two hundred and four feet high ; ^Edem hanc amplissimam cultui Divino 

two tiers of windows, five in a tier on each dicatam, ex animo religioso et munificen- 

side; an elegant large Venetian window tia valde prseclara, Nov Arce habitantes, 

in the rear behind the pulpit, and the cura sub pastorali rev. Alexandri Mac. 

whole finished in the inside in the most whorter, S. T. D. primum qui posuit 

handsome manner in the Doric order." saxum, construxerunt, anno salutis, 1787 > 

" From the best estimate I can obtain," Amer. Reipub. Foederatse 12. Auspicante 

he adds, "it cost about £9000 York cur Deo, longum perduret in ^evum. 
rency." 



250 CHUKCH IN BLOOMFEELD FORMED. 



day of January annually, for the purpose of choosing 
such men as a majority of its members should prefer, 
and agreed to confirm their appointment. And the 
practice has conformed to this arrangement to the 
present time. 

In the year 1794, the first preliminary steps were 
taken for forming another Presbyterian Church within 
the boundaries of Newark, viz., in what is now the 
town of Bloomfield, then distinguished by the name of 
Wardsesson * Application, for this purpose was made 
to the Presbytery by a a number of the members of 
the congregations of Newark and Orange, and some 
other people in that vicinity and the reason alleged 
was " that many, by reason of their distance from any 
place of public worship and other difficulties, were 
unable to attend statedly upon the administration of 
the word." A committee .appointed to confer with 
the applicants, and also with members of the two pa- 
rent societies, reported that " the committees from New- 
ark and Orange being fully heard, made no objection 
to the measure, but in a very christian manner ex- 
pressed their concurrence." "Whereupon the Presbytery 
proceeded to erect the petitioners "into a distinct con- 
gregation of the Presbyterian Church, by the name of 
the "Third Presbyterian Church of the township of 
Newark." The petition was signed by ninety-eight 
heads of families ; but how large a portion of them 
went out from this congregation I have not the means 
of determining. 

* See Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 



HICtII STANDING OF DR. MACWHORTER. 251 

I have already spoken of Dr. Macwhorter's useful- 
ness to the Church generally, and the high place which 
he occupied in the esteem and confidence of his breth- 
ren during the earlier period of his ministry in this 
Church. The same is true, in a still more eminent de- 
gree, during the later period. In the prosperity of 
the College of New Jersey, of whose Board of Trus- 
tees he was a member from his first election in 1772, 
till his death, and whose friends had at one time fixed 
their eyes upon him as a candidate for the office of 
President, he took a warm and active interest. In the 
Spring of 1802, at the advanced age of 68 years, he 
undertook a mission to New England, to solicit bene- 
factions on its account — the College edifice having then 
recently been destroyed by fire — and was successful in 
procuring more than $7000 for the repairing of the 
loss* For many years he was a member of the 
Synod's committee for the distribution of the sums ap- 
propriated for the education of "poor and pious youth" 
in that institution. Indeed, almost all the principal 
committees appointed at this period, are found to con- 
tain his name. He is said to have been a skillful peace- 
maker, and therefore was often commissioned with 
others to adjust difficulties as they arose in different 
parts of the Presbyterian body. Of the committees 
which arranged a Plan of Union, or an agreement to 
hold an annual convention by delegates, with the Con- 
sociated Churches of Connecticut in 1767, and a fra- 
ternal connection with the Dutch and Associate Re- 



* Dr. Griffin's Funeral Discourse, pp. 19, 25. 



252 GE1SHEEAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUTED. 



formed Churches in 1*785, he was a member, and was 
often appointed by the Synod to conduct its corres- 
pondence with foreign bodies* 

" He never appeared in his might," says Dr. Griffin, 
" so perfectly as in a deliberative assembly, especially 
when his cautious and penetrating mind had leisure 
to examine well the bearings of the subject. Thor- 
oughly versed in all the forms of Presbyterial busi- 
ness, with a skill at management rarely surpassed, 
he filled a great space in the judicatories of our Church. 
His voice was listened to with profound respect, and. 
the counsels suggested by his superior wisdom enlight- 
ened and swayed our public bodies." 

In the year 1*788, the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 
held its first annual meeting. The purpose of forming 
it began to be entertained in the Synod as early as the 
year 1785. After long deliberation and revision, the 
plan was adopted ; and the Presbyteries having been 
rearranged and the whole body divided into four 
Synods, the Assembly was appointed to meet at the 
time above specified, in the city of Philadelphia, and 
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia was dis- 
solved. In the arrangements for the formation of 
this body, Dr. Macwhorter had a principal agency, f 

* See Minutes of the Synod of Jfew next meeting to be inserted in our direc- 

Tork and Philadelphia, pp. 373, 505, 508. tory." I find no traces of its introduction 

t While the plan was under considera- on the Minutes of the Synod, but it is re- 

tion in the Presbytery of New York, in the corded at length in those of the Presby- 

month of May, 1788, a committee of that tery, and is curious as indicating the 

body, of which Dr. M. was chairman, views entertained at that time on a very 

brought in the draught of a chapter on important point of Christian duty. Among 

the reciprocal duties of ministers and peo- the duties of the minister we find the fol- 

ple, "to be laid before the Synod at their lowing: he "shall ordinarily preach to his 



GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONSTITUTED. 



253 



His name stands second on a committee, of which Dr. 
Witherspoon was chairman, to whom was committed 
" the Book of Discipline and Government," " with pow- 
ers to digest such a system as they shall think to be 
accommodated to the state of the Presbyterian 
Church in America;" he was also appointed on the 
committee to revise the Westminster Directory of 
Worship ; and he exerted a prominent influence in 
allaying the dissatisfaction which in some cases arose 
out of the proposed measures* He was early chosen 
as one of the Trustees of the Assembly, and continued 
to hold a place in that Board till a short time before 
his decease. 

Of the four Synods provided for in the formation 
of the new body, that which contained the Presbytery 



people twice on the Sabbath, except in 
such congregations where it is most proper 
in the winter season that there should be 
but one service." " He shall visit the sick 
and afflicted when sent for." Respecting 
pastoral visitation, it is ordained, " that if 
his congregation consists of notmoie than 
fifty families, he shall visit them once 
every year; if more than fifty, and not 
more than one hundred, he shall visit the 
whole once in two years ; if of more than 
one hundred, and not more than two hun- 
dred, he shall visit the whole in three 
years," &c, " in the proportion of fifty fam- 
ilies every year." Among the duties of 
the people, are those of " due attendance 
on public worship and the catechetical in- 
struction of their minister," causing " their 
families to attend on the ministerial visit- 
ation in an orderly manner," and " when 
they are sick sending for their minister." 

* The Presbytery of Suffolk went so far 
as to address a letter to the Moderator of 
the Synod "praying that the union be- 
tween them and the Synod might be dis- 
solved." On hearing it, the Synod ap- 
pointed Dr. Macwhorter to draw up a 



reply. It is replete with Christian wis- 
dom and fraternal affection, and deserves 
to be read with care, as a fine specimen of 
Christian expostulation. After answering 
their alleged objections to the continuance 
of their past connection, and begging the 
brethren of the Suffolk Presbytery to re- 
consider their resolution to withdraw, it 
proceeds as follows: "You well know 
that it is not a small thing to rend the 
seamless coat of Christ, or to be disjoined 
parts of that one body, His Church. We 
are all members one of another; there 
should be no schism in the body, but wc 
should comfort, encourage and strengthen 
one another by the firmest union in our 
common Lord. We are Presbyterians, 
and we firmly believe the Presbyterian 
system of doctrine, discipline and Church 
government, to be nearer to the word of 
God than that of any other sect or denom- 
ination of Christians. Shall all other 
sects and parties be united among them- 
selves, for their support and increase, and 
Presbyterians be divided and subdivided, 
so as to be the scorn of some andj the 
prey of others ?" 



254 BAPTIST AND METHODIST DENOMINATIONS. 

of New York was directed to hold its first meeting in 
the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New 
York, on the 29th of October, 1788, and was organ- 
ized accordingly under the name of the Synod of New 
York and New Jersey. With that body this Church 
remained connected till its division by act of the As- 
sembly in the year 1823, a period of 35 years. 

During the latter part of Dr. Macwhorter's ministry, 
two new denominations of Christians became organ- 
ized in Newark. The origin of the First Baptist 
Church is thus described by its present pastor : "A few 
of the members of the Church at Lyons' Farms, who 
were living in the town of Newark, obtained permis- 
sion of the Church to which they belonged to hold 
services in a school house in a part of the town now 
known as South Broad street — still holding the rela- 
tion of a branch of the Farms Church. They hired 
the school house for one year." On the 6th of June, 
1801, a company consisting of nine persons "were con- 
stituted into a regular Baptist Church, and were soon 
incorporated, assuming the name of the First Baptist 
Church of Newark." Their first house of worship, 
erected in Academy street, was dedicated on the 16th 
of September, 1806 * 

" The Methodist Episcopal Church had no house of 
worship until the year 1808. Previously to that time, 
religious services were held under the direction of that 
denomination with more or less regularity, as far back, 
it is said, as 1?99. Their places of assembling were 

* See Semi-Cent ennial Sermon, by the Rev. Henry C. Fish, June, 1851. 



INFLUENCE OF DR. MACWHOBTEB. 255 

first the old Court House, which stood opposite the 
site of the First Presbyterian Church, and the building 
in the southern part of the city, long known as the 
White School House. The Rev. David Bartine is 
spoken of as having preached the first sermon ever 
delivered in this place by a Methodist." In 1808, the 
number of persons had increased to fourteen, at which 
time " the design of building a Methodist church in 
the town of Newark was adopted," and the first Meth- 
odist house of worship, called Wesley Chapel, was 
dedicated the following summer.* 

Dr. Macwhorter's influence on this community was 
distinguished for its strength and permanence. I have 
already referred to three remarkable seasons of 
awakening in the congregation during his ministry. A 
fourth occurred in the year 1796, in consequence of 
which thirty or forty persons were added to the 
Church ; and still a fifth, in the year 1802, the particu- 
lars of which I omit to mention here, as it perhaps be- 
longs more properly to the ministry of his successor. 
He presided over the congregation during some of the 
most eventful periods, was associated in his work with 
some of the most eminent men that have belonged to 
it, and has done more perhaps than any one else to 
impress the features of his own character upon its his- 
tory. When he departed this life, most of the church 
whom he left were his spiritual children, and a large 
proportion of them had received baptism in their 
childhood at his hands. " He had lived," as he said, 
" to see two worlds die." 



* Communicated by the Rev. S. Y. Monroe, present pastor of the Clinton street 
Methodist Church. 



256 CHARACTER OF BR. MACWHORTER. 

The character of Dr. Macwhorter, if not remarkably 
brilliant, was certainly distinguished for its strength. 
His aspect, says Dr. Griffin, " was grave and venerable, 
and strongly expressive of the properties of his 
mind. His deportment was affectionate, paternal and 
dignified ; calculated to inspire respect and depend- 
ence, and to repel the approach of presumptuous fa- 
miliarity ; yet in conversation he was pleasant, and 
often facetious." His judgment was ever sound, his 
penetration keen, his perseverance indomitable, his ac- 
tivity deliberate, but always well-directed, and there- 
fore generally successful. He is reported to have been 
an excellent classical scholar, with some knowledge of 
the Hebrew and Syriac languages. "Well read in di- 
vinity, he understood the foundations on which his 
faith rested. With a firm adherence to the doctrines 
of his own Church, he was little disposed to contend 
with those who differed from hjm in their religious 
opinions. An aged man tells me, that when some 
preachers of another denomination began to hold 
meetings in his parish, and some of his elders came to 
him in alarm to consult what was to be done, he re- 
plied in terms often used by men of wise Christian 
moderation, " let them alone ; we must out-preach 
them, and out-pray them, and out-live them, and so 
they cannot do any harm."* As a preacher, he is said 
to have been " pungent and popular" in the early part 
of his ministry ; but in the latter part, when his ardor 
was abated, his preaching was instructive, " solid, judi- 



* Mr. Isaac Nichols, now the oldest member of the Session. 



LAST DAYS OF DE. MACWHOETEE. 



257 



cious, and often moving." "In the services of the 
sanctuary, and in all his parochial labors, he added to 
faithfulness great method and punctuality ; and with a 
uniformity peculiar to himself, was always the same." 
He was a good pastor, loved his people, and delighted 
to make their interests his own. 

During the latter part of his life, his growing infirm- 
ities required the aid of a colleague in the pastoral 
office. In the month of October, 1800, " a call from 
the First Presbyterian congregation in Newark for Mr. 
Henry Kollock to undertake the pastoral office in the 
said congregation as a colleague and assistant minister 
with Dr. Macwhorter was laid before the Presbytery 
by Judge Boudinot, a delegate from said congregation." 
This call Mr. Kollock declined, and was afterwards 
settled at Elizabethtown. During the year following, 
the want was supplied, as we shall hereafter notice 
more particularly, by the installation of the Rev. Ed- 
ward D. Griffin. 

As his life drew towards the close, Dr. M. had a strong 
desire to revisit the scene of his nativity ; and, in the 
Spring of 1806, made an excursion to Delaware for 
that purpose. All was changed. He was dependent 
on the information of strangers, in learning where was 
the spot in which his infancy was nurtured. An old 
half-filled cellar was the only trace of it. None knew 
him, none remembered him, and only one aged person 
had retained any recollection of the family. " He re- 
quested only to be supplied," says Dr. Griffin, " with a 
glass of water from the spring that used to slake his 
boyish thirst, that he might say, ' I have tasted that 

17 



258 



LAST DAYS OF DE. MACWHOETEE. 



spring again and this desire fulfilled, lie hastily 
turned and left the scene forever." About seven 
months before his death, he received a severe injury 
from a fall, from which he never recovered. He took 
leave of the Presbytery, in a letter excusing his ab- 
sence, in the month of April, 1807.* The short inter- 
val .which remained was one of severe affliction. Shut 
out from the sanctuary, and disabled for the duties it 
had long been his delight to perform, he saw his 
youngest son suddenly removed, by a disease so rapid 
in its course that ere the news of his illness could reach 
the aged and enfeebled parents, he was numbered with 
the dead. Then the companion of his life, with whom 
he had shared all its vicissitudes for nearly fifty years, 
closed the scene of her sufferings, and stepped into the 
grave before him. Mrs. Macwhorter died on the second 
day of April, 1807. 

But the faith which this venerable patriarch had so 
long professed and preached, showed its power to sus- 
tain his own soul amidst all his complicated afflictions. 
When his son was smitten to the grave, like Aaron, 
the good old man held his peace ; and when the mother 
followed, her death served but to sever the last tie that 
bound him to earth, and make him also ready to be 
gone. His last words breathed an entire confidence in 
God's faithfulness. He said, " I die slow." " I have no 

* See minutes of the Presbytery of New sions, expressing an apprehension that on 

York, under date of April, 1807. "A account of his declining health, he might 

message was received from Dr. Macwhor- not be able to meet with them more, and 

ter by Mr. Griffin, informing the Pres- communicating to them his paternal and 

bytery that he was prevented by indispo- affectionate salutations." 
sition from attending their present ses- 



DEATH AND FUNEKAL. 



259 



despondency ; death and I have long been intimates." 
" Blessed be God, I have a steady hope." After join- 
ing in prayer with his young colleague, on whom the 
duties of his sacred office were now exclusively to de- 
volve, and on whom he had already bestowed his pa- 
ternal blessing, he extended both his arms at full 
length towards heaven, and then suffering them to fall 
quietly, expired without a struggle, on the 20th day of 
July, 1807, at the age of seventy-three years and five 
days. 

" Thus lived and thus died," adds his eulogist, " Dr. 
Alexander Macwhorter, after having served this peo- 
ple in the gospel ministry forty-eight years." Who 
will not join in the review, his fervent ejaculation, 
" Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
last end be like his." 

The death of Dr. Macwhorter created a profound 
sensation in the community of which he had so long 
been an honored member. The next day the Trustees 
of the Church met at the house of their President, 
Hon. Elisha Boudinot, and passed resolutions as 
follows : 

" It having pleased the all- wise Head of the Church 
to remove from earth, and take to Himself, our late 
worthy and respected pastor, the Rev. Doctor Alexan- 
der Macwhorter, this board, in order to manifest the 
gratitude they feel for his long, faithful services 
amongst us, and the high respect they entertain for his 
memory, do unanimously resolve — ■ 

" That they will take the charge of his funeral on 
themselves, and that the same shall be conducted in 



260 



FUNERAL SOLEMNITY. 



such a manner as to reflect credit on the Church, as 
well as to express the feelings which they are certain 
the whole congregation entertain, on this melancholy 
occasion."* 

They also resolved, that the pulpit and other parts 
of the church be hung with black, and the Session and 
Trustees wear crape on their left arm during three 
months. A committee being appointed to carry these 
resolutions into effect, expresses were sent to invite 
every member of the Presbytery, in New York and 
this State, with other clergymen and the inhabitants 
of the neighboring towns ; and the procession for the 
funeral was ordered as follows : 

"1. Rev. Mr. Griffin and two clergymen. 2. Corpse 
and pall-bearers. 3. Physicians. 4. Members of the 
family. 5. Session of the Church as mourners. 6. 
Trustees as mourners. 7. Clergy. 8. Inhabitants." 

The funeral took place on the 2 2d of June, 1807, 
and the sermon, afterwards published by request of 
the trustees, was preached by the Rev. Dr. Griffin, col- 
league and successor of the deceased, from Psalm 112 : 
6 — "The righteous shall be in everlasting remem- 
brance." A marble tablet was afterwards inserted in 
the wall, on the inside of the church, near the pulpit, 
where we now find it, bearing a tribute to the memory 
of the deceased, written, it is said, by the same hand, 
in the following terms : 

" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. Alexander 
Macwhortee, D. D. In him a venerable aspect and 

See Record. 



EPITAPH. 



261 



dignified manners were united with a strong and saga- 
cious mind, richly stored with the treasures of ancient 
and modern learning. For a long course of years, he 
was among the most distinguished supporters of liter- 
ature and religion in the American church. He was a 
zealous asserter of his country's rights, a wise counsel- 
lor, a pious and skillful divine, a laborious, prudent 
and faithful minister, and a great benefactor of the 
congregation over which he presided forty-eight years. 
To his influence and zeal the congregation is greatly 
indebted for this house of God, the foundation-stone 
of which he laid, Sept., 1787. In gratitude for his 
distinguished services, and from an affectionate respect 
to his memory, the bereaved Church have erected this 
monument. He was born 15th July, 1734. He de- 
parted this life 20th July, 1807, aged 73 years. The 
memory of the just is blessed." 



DISCOURSE NUMBER IV. 



Ecclesiastes i : 4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh. 

As I annnounce this passage for the fourth time, as 
the theme of my discourse, and remember, that I have 
already during these few weeks, passed over in review, 
and endeavored to live for the moment in the lives of 
eight successive generations of ministers who have oc- 
cupied the pulpit here, and ministered to the congre- 
gation in which I now stand, an indescribable awe 
takes possession of me. I seem to see sweeping on 
before me, "the innumerable caravan" of which the 
poet speaks, " that moves" 

" To that mysterious realm where each shall take 
Their stations in the silent halls of death." 

and I cannot forget that I, and you too, my beloved 
hearers, are treading with them in the same long pro- 
cession. As we are now full of life and activity, look- 
ing back with eager interest to learn the history of 
the past, and forward with hope and enthusiasm to 
anticipate the better days that may be coming, or re- 
coil before the prospect of evils, the signs of which we 
think we already discern in the horizon, so were they, 
each in his own period ; and each in turn filled the 



REV. EDWARD DORR GRIFFIN". - 263 

world and time with his own consciousness. And as 
they have passed, one after another into the land of 
silence, I seem to hear a still voice gently breaking 
that silence, and saying to yon and me " Whatsoever 
thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there 
is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in 
the grave whither thou goest." 

We pass now to the tenth in order in the succession 
of pastors, namely the Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, a 
name associated with some of the most thrilling events 
in American ecclesiastical history, and destined to be 
remembered with honor and affection as long as dis- 
tinguished talents well directed are accounted valuable, 
or ardent zeal and warm-hearted piety held in admira- 
tion in the Church. 

Mr. Griffin was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, 
Jan. 6, IT 70. His father, Mr. George Griffin, was a 
wealthy farmer, of a strong mind and good education ; 
and his mother, whose maiden name was Eve Dorr, 
was a sister of Rev. Edward Dorr, of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, whose name she gave to her son. 

From a very early age, Mr. Griffin's parents des- 
tined him to the ministry ; and while yet a child of 
only four or five years, he was the subject of deep 
religious impressions. But though once and again 
strongly exercised on the subject of religion, and once 
to such an extent, as to venture for a time to hope he 
was a true Christian, his conversion does not appear to 
have taken place till after the close of his course in 
college, when he had abandoned the purpose with 
which his early training and his parents' wishes had 



264 EAELY LIFE OF MR. GRIFFIN. 

inspired him, and, according to his own account " de- 
voted himself to the law, and made up his mind to be 
a man of the world." 

The means of awakening him to a just sense of his 
spiritual need, was a severe illness with which he was 
overtaken in the gayest period of his life. Having 
given his heart to God, he now resolved to resume his 
original purpose, and devote himself to the service of 
Christ in the work of the ministry. 

Mr. Griffin graduated with the first honors of his 
class at Yale College, in 1790, became a member of 
the Church in Derby in the Spring of 1792, and 
having pursued his theological studies under the di- 
rection of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, son of the first Pres- 
ident Edwards, at New Haven, was licensed to preach 
the Gospel by the Association of New Haven West, 
on the 31st of October, 1792. On the 10th of No- 
vember following, he preached his first sermon, and 
having supplied several pulpits for a larger or shorter 
period, in New Salem, Farmington, Middlebury, and 
other places, in one of which he received and accepted 
a call, but did not actually settle, he was ordained as 
pastor of the Church in New Hartford, June 4, 1795. 
On the 17th of May, 1796, he was married to Frances 
Huntington, daughter of Rev. Joshua Huntington, D. D., 
of Coventry, and adopted daughter of her uncle, Gover- 
nor Samuel Huntington, of Norwich, Connecticut. He 
remained in New Hartford, carrying on the work of 
the ministry with great success, till some time in the 
year 1800, when he took a journey on account of his 
wife's health, and spent the winter following in the 



INSTALLATION IN NEWAliK. 



2G5 



vicinity of Newark. The people of Orange, where he 
preached during a part of this period, and where fifty 
persons were added to the Church under his ministra- 
tions, were desirous of inviting him to become their pas- 
tor, but on the reception of a call from the First Church 
in Newark, his pastoral relation to the Church in New 
Hartford was dissolved, and he was installed as col- 
league pastor with Dr. Macwhorter, by the Presbytery 
of New York, on the 20th of October, 1801, in the 
thirty-second year of his age. Dr. Macwhorter pre- 
sided, Dr. McKnight preached a sermon from 2 Cor. 
ii: 16, the last clause, and Dr. Rodgers gave the 
charge to the people* 

Dr. Griffin took the charge of this congregation in 
the full spirit of a new era in the Church's history, 
which he fully believed began to dawn about the 
time of his entrance upon the ministry, and was des- 
tined to culminate only in the meridian of millenial 
glory. This belief he lost no opportunity of express- 
ing in the strongest terms. u In the year 1792," said 
he, "three series of events commenced, which needed 
not a fourth to fill the earth with the knowledge of 
glory of the Lord. First, the series of missionary and 
charitable efforts. The first missionary society in 
modern times was established that year, in Kittering, 
in England. Secondly, the series of revivals of reli- 
gion. The first in this continuous succession, com- 
menced that year. I had the privilege of witnessing it 
myself, and know assuredly that no intermission has 

* Minutes of the Presbytery of New York. 



266 



ANIMATING PRESAGES. 



occurred from that day to this. Thirdly, the series of 
judgments intended to destroy the nations which had 
given their power and strength to the beast." " These 
three series," said he, in 1817, "have been widening 
and rising higher during every year." That year, 
" 1792," was a year from which to reckon dates in his 
computations of the progress of religion, all his life. 
You might know the year of our Lord, in which many 
of his most celebrated public discourses were written, 
from the number of years, mentioned as having passed 
since the commencement of the great and glorious 
change which seemed to fill all his anticipations. Add 
the number mentioned to the number 1792, and you 
have uniformly the exact date in the ordinary compu- 
tation. 

The consideration of this fact, as it seems to me, is 
indispensible to a correct understanding of the true 
character of this illustrious man's career as a Christian 
minister. This belief acting upon a lively imagination, 
an enthusiastic temperament, a powerful intellect and 
an affectionate and devoutly pious heart, is the true 
key to many of the peculiar excellencies, and to what 
some may be disposed to mention as the peculiar de- 
fects of his character and actions. It nerved his 
strength, it fired his eloquence, it animated his hopes 
anew, when his heart would otherwise have sunk 
under discouragement, it made him bold in discarding 
obsolete customs, and regardless of trifling difficulties^ 
in carrying into effect what he considered as the best 
measures for the conversion of men, and the advance- 
ment of the kingdom of Christ. In the ardor of 



ANIMATING PRESAGES. 



267 



youtliful inexperience, it may have sometimes led him 
to place too low an estimate upon the labors of those 
who went before him. It led him to speak of his own 
history and experience ; not so much in the spirit of 
self exaltation, as in order to testify in the ears of 
all men, to what his own eyes had seen of the wonder- 
ful works of God. 

The present is not the time or the place to discuss 
the correctness of this belief, nor to show how it came 
to pass that the hopes of those good men that shared 
it have exjDerienced a degree of disappointment. Un- 
questionable it is, that the period to which it had 
reference, was distinguished by a most remarkable 
series of efforts, having in view the spread of the gos- 
pel through the world ; and a most remarkable series 
of religious impulses in which, from place to place, the 
Spirit of God seemed marching in his strength, and 
pouring out without measure his converting influences. 
With these impulses Dr. Griffin's whole ministry was 
in an eminent degree identified. His own new birth 
lay among the very beginnings of them, and one of 
the earliest decisive manifestations of their power, as 
he supposed, was in his own father's house. " I saw 
the darkness," said he, "before the dawn." "I saw 
the field of death before the bones began to move." 
No sooner did he begin to preach, than converts began 
to be numbered by hundreds. This was the case in 
New Salem, when he was preaching there before his 
ordination. It was the case in East Hartford during 
his ministry of five years in that place, and in Orange, 



268 



RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES . 



where lie spent the winter just before his invitation to 
Newark. 

Nor was the case different after he became the pas- 
tor of this Church. His ministry here, though barren 
of external incidents, was exceedingly rich in spiritual 
fruits. I have already spoken of a revival of religion, 
which occurred during the next year after he entered 
upon his pastoral duties. It continued two years, and 
about a hundred and thirty persons were in conse- 
quence of it added to the Church on profession, of 
whom one hundred were received in the course of 
twelve months. We shall notice other cases of the 
same- kind as we proceed. 

In the Spring of 1803, Dr. Griffin's own mind was 
the subject of some memorable religious experiences. 
" As I was walking in the streets of Newark," says he, 
" pondering upon my sins, a flash of light came across 
my mind, sending home a conviction of sin which in- 
stantly deprived me of hope. The following dialogue 
then took place with myself : " Well, go to Christ as 
you direct others to do. But He is away beyond the 
hills, and I cannot get to him. Well, ask Him to 
bring you to him. But the prayers of the unregen- 
erate cannot ascend above the clouds. I have nothing 
to stand upon to begin." " I felt then," says he, " to- 
tally undone, helpless and hopeless. I died then as 
Paul did on the plains of Damascus. Instantly the 
scene changed. I was composed in a moment, and 
seemed to lie down at God's feet, and rest every issue 
on His will without a struggle." "This," he said, 
speaking of the case long afterwards, " I have learned 



INTERVIEW WITH RICHARDS. 



2G9 



from tlie reflections of seven and twenty years, to call 
the dernier resort." The event changed the whole 
character of his experiences and preaching, and made 
them permanently, as he declares, " more full of Christ." 

About this time Dr. Griffin was in the habit of 
making preaching tours in the neighborhood of New- 
ark, and even to a considerable distance in the sur- 
rounding region, leaving the pulpit, I presume for the 
time, in the care of his venerable colleague. In one of 
these excursions, he met with Mr. Richards, who sub- 
sequently became his successor, and with him spent 
the night in pleasant and mutually profitable religious 
conversation. Mr. Griffin expressed doubts as to his 
own piety, and lamented that he always found it diffi- 
cult for him to feel that he deserved eternal punish- 
ment. Richards replied, that Christians obtain this 
sense by seeing that God is so unspeakably lovely, 
that no conceivable punishment is great enough for 
sinning against Him; and that he had himself seen 
God's holiness, purity and justice to be so glorious, 
that it appeared that if men should never commit an 
outward sin, they would deserve to be eternally 
damned for not loving him." In the course of this 
conversation, Griffin obtained a new view of the 
divine holiness, its "purity, grandeur, awfulness and 
sweetness." " I saw," says he u that I had been search- 
ing for deliverance on the wrong side of the room, in 
seeking a sense of the evil of sin, from examining what 
I had done, rather than what God is." Then they 
turned to discourse upon the atonement. Griffin again 
unburdened his heart, and spoke of a difficulty he had 



210 



THE PARSONAGE HOUSE. 



found in apprehending Christ as a proper substitute. 
Whereupon Richards disclosed to him a distressing 
conflict which he had formerly had on that point, and 
which was quieted by a transporting view of Hebrews 
vii: 26; "For such an high priest became us, who is 
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and 
made higher than the heavens." At this, the agitation 
of Griffin's mind become relieved, and he fell asleep. 
" When I awoke," he adds, " that same glorious High 
Priest was before me, just as He is expressed in He- 
brews vii: 26." Such was the early Christian inter- 
course of these two eminent brethren in the ministry, 
whose labors in the capacity of sower and reaper in 
the same field, were destined to mingle their results in 
the world of blessedness. And what influence even 
this casual conversation may have had, in shaping the 
character, and determining the eternal state of hun- 
dreds in this congregation, will be known only by the 
disclosures of the last day. 

The - present parsonage house, on Mulberry street, 
was built about this time, for the accommodation of 
the junior pastor and his family. The old one was a 
stone building of two stories high, and stood upon the 
west side of Broad street, a little below the corner of 
William street. The date of its erection I have not 
been able to determine. The land on which the 
present house stands was purchased of the Rev. Aaron 
Burr, about the time he left Newark, and up to the 
time now referred to, had been used as a pasture for 
cattle. In the days of Mr. Griffin and his immediate 
successors, the grounds about the house were exten- 



REVIVAL OF 1807. 



271 



sive, and the garden spacious. The house was first 
occupied in the summer of 1804, of which event I find 
the following notice in the pastor's journal, in the form 
of a prayer for the divine blessing : " O God, may this, 
new habitation be the scene of peace and of heavenly 
communion for years to come. Here, in retirement 
from the world, may we cultivate the sweets of do- 
mestic enjoyment and the calm delights of religion, 
while we enjoy the innocent amusements of the gar- 
den, and contemplate the beauty of Thy works." The 
garden alley in which he was accustomed to walk, he 
endeavored to consecrate, as he tells us, to divine med- 
itation.* 

During the ministry of Mr. Griffin, as in that of his 
predecessors, there was no Sabbath School, and no 
lecture room for the accommodation of week day 
meetings. The pastor catechised the children in the 
church, in school houses, or at their homes, and prayer 
meetings were held in similar circumstances. The 
weekly evening lecture had not then been established. 

In the Spring of 1807 commenced a very powerful 
effusion of divine influences. A deep impression had 
been made upon the congregation, by the death of 
Dr. Macwhorter, and it was confirmed and made more 
intense through the labors of the Eev. Gideon Black- 
burn, who preached here several times with great ear- 
nestness. Nothing extraordinary appeared however, 
till early in September. The Friday previous to the 
administration of the Lord's Supper, was observed as 

* Several large trees now standing on are a venerable weeping willow in front of 
the parsonage ground, are said to have the house, and a tall and partly decayed 
been set out by Dr. Griffin. Among them magnolia tree in the garden. 



272 



REVIVAL OF 1807. 



a day of special fasting and prayer, in which the con- 
gregation at Orange joined. The attendance on the 
meeting on that occasion was unusually full, and the 
services of the Sabbath were peculiarly solemn. The 
next morning, as appears from the account given by 
Judge Boudinot, in almost every house into which the 
pastor entered in making his customary visits, the 
family appeared like Cornelius of old, ready to receive 
the word of truth, and soon melted into tears. " It 
was not long," says the same eminent authority, " be- 
fore the blessed work pervaded every part of the so- 
ciety. No age was exempted. We have had instances 
of persons, between sixty and eighty, some of whom 
had led moral lives, and trusted they were going to 
heaven, who were brought to see that they were 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked." God also in his sovereign mercy, was pleased 
to ordain praise from the mouth of infants. The pas- 
tor maintained frequent lectures during the week, be- 
sides meetings of private societies in different parts of 
the village. His pastoral visitations were frequent, 
and productive of signal benefit. " This work," said 
he, "in point of power and stillness, exceeds all that 1 
have ever seen." Judge Boudinot testified to the same 
fact. " Although our church has been crowded," says 
he, " I have frequently shut my eyes for the experiment, 
and I should not have known that there was a person 
in the house but the speaker and myself, from any 
thing I heard." " Our opposers," he adds, " have been 
outrageous. Some have attributed it to human means, 
although I believe there never was an awakening in 



DE. GEIFFIN's EEMOVAL. 



273 



which there was less reason for human boasting or 
pride to rest upon. Our blessed Saviour seemed to 
take the work into His own hands, to wear the crown 
and receive all the glory." 

Among the means of carrying on the work of piety, 
in use at this time, was a society of Christian laymen, 
formed just at the beginning of the events referred 
to, for the purpose of united prayer for the Divine 
blessing on the labors of the pastor, and called, in al- 
lusion to the upholding of Moses's hands during the 
war with Amalek, " the Aaron and Hur Society." Nor 
was the sacred influence confined to a single congrega- 
tion. It was felt in Qjange and Newark at the same, 
time, and during the month of March, 1808, ninety- 
seven persons joined the Church in Newark, and 
seventy-two that in Orange. The w hole number added 
to this Church in consequence of that revival is sup? 
posed to be between one hundred and fifty and two 
hundred persons. 

But Dr. Griffin's ministry in this Church, recent as it 
was, was now drawing to a close. As early as the 
year 1805, he had been invited to leave his post, for 
the purpose of taking .charge of the First Reformed 
Dutch Church in Albany ; but that call, though it cost 
him no little doubt and perplexity, he at length judged 
it his duty to decline. But now, two invitations, hav- 
ing both peculiar claims, pressing themselves simulta- 
neously upon his attention — the one to the chair of 
Pulpit Eloquence in the Theological Seminary in An- 
dover, and the other to become the stated preacher in 
the new church in Park street, Boston—the path of 

18 



2U 



FAREWELL SERMON. 



duty seemed plain ; and, having first obtained the con- 
sent of his people, he was released from his pastoral 
charge in April, 1809, and took a solemn leave of his 
flock in a farewell sermon on the 28th of May follow- 
ing. The text, from which he preached on this occa- 
sion, was Acts xx : 32 — "And now, brethren, I com- 
mend yon to God, and to the word of his grace, which 
is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance 
among all them which are sanctified." " I had hoped," 
he says, " to be permitted to go hand in hand with 
you to the grave, to attend some of my brethren in 
their chambers of death, to die at last in your arms, to 
be buried among my dear Church, and to rise with 
them in the resurrection. One year ago, I thought 
nothing but death could divide us. But God had a 
different purpose. You have seen it, and owned it, 
and submitted to it, with a spirit of meekness which 
has done honor to your Christian profession. Through 
the whole of this trial, you have given me no other 
reproaches but your tears. From you, as a congrega- 
tion, I have never received a single act of unkindness. 
On the contrary, you have protected me when I have 
been assailed ; you have spread yourselves before me 
as a shield ; you have carried me in your arms to the 
throne of grace. If I forget this kindness, let my 
right hand forget its cunning." 

During the eight years of his ministry in this con- 
gregation, less than two of which he was the sole pas- 
tor, sixty-two persons were received into the Church 
from other Churches, and three hundred and seventy- 
two on a profession of their faith. When he came 



SUBSEQUENT LIFE. 



275 



here, the Church consisted of two hundred and two 
members, one hundred and forty of whom were alive 
when he left it. During his ministry, the number had 
more than doubled, including, when he took his dis- 
mission, five hundred and twenty-two persons. 

The subsequent career of Dr. Griffin belongs to other 
histories than that of this congregation. But his old 
people did not forget him, nor he them, when he was 
removed from their connection. When the tongue of 
slander assailed him, in the high and perilous station to 
which he was transferred, they came warmly to his 
rescue, bore their testimony to the excellence of his 
character, assured him of their continued affection and 
confidence, reminded him of the calumnies which had 
been borne by other servants of Jesus, and even their 
Lord himself, and bade him not be discouraged, but 
set his face like a flint and hold out to the end. And 
when, in the providence of God, he returned to New- 
ark to occupy another pulpit and stand in other and 
somewhat delicate relations to them, both they and 
their new pastor maintained towards him the kindest 
feelings, and enjoyed with him the most fraternal in- 
tercourse. 

Dr. Griffin left Newark, May 29th, 1809, carrying 
with him five young men who had consecrated them- 
selves to the work of the ministry under his influence, 
and were now desirous of availing themselves of his 
instructions in his new sphere of service. He was in- 
augurated to the office of Professor in Andover, on 
the 21st of June, and held that station two years, 
preaching at the same time on the Sabbath to the 



276 



DEATH OF DB. GEIFFIN. 



church in Boston. But finding it impossible to fulfill 
the duties of both offices, he resigned his Professorship 
and was installed as pastor of the Park street Church, 
Boston, July 31st, 1811. In the summer of 1815, he 
left Boston, and became the pastor of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church in this city, where he remained about 
six years. In October, 1821, he assumed the Presi- 
dency of Williams College, whose duties he discharged 
with eminent success about fifteen years. And now, 
the evening of life drawing on, he returned to Newark, 
to which he still looked amidst all his changes, as the 
home of his affections ; and, becoming an inmate of his 
eldest daughter's family,* he passed the little remnant 
of his days in domestic love and cheerfulness, and died 
in hope, November 8, 1837, in the 68th year of his age. 
His funeral sermon was preached in this house, by the 
Kev. Dr. Spring, of New York, to a very large assem- 
bly, and his remains lie, by the side of those of his ex- 
cellent wife, who went to her rest just before him, in 
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, on the borders of Newark. 

Dr. Griffin's character, both as a man and a minister, 
has been drawn by an able hand, and to that picture I 

* Since writing the above, I have occa. acquaintance. Her piety was sinoere and 

sion to record the lamented death of this fervent, and her works of benevolence un- 

excellent and accomplished lady. She was tiring. It was by efforts of Christian 

born at Orange, N. J., April 4, 1801, and kindness in ministering to a dying stran- 

married at Williamstown, Mass., to Dr. ger that she' contracted the disease which 

Lyndon A.Smith, Nov. 20, 1823. Removing closed her valuable life. Her funeral so- 

with her husband to Newark in 1827, she lemnities were attended in the house 

soon after connected herself with the First where she had so long been accustomed 

Presbyterian Church, of which she contin- to worship, and a numerous concourse of 

ued a devoted and eminently useful mem- friends testified by their tears how greatly 

ber till her decease, Jan. 11, 1852. The and how extensively she was beloved, 

genius and intellectual attainments of Mrs. Dr. Griffin left two daughters, the vounger 

Smith were of a high order. Gentle, un- of whom married to the Rev. Robert 

assuming, warm-hearted, and uucensori- Crawford of North Adams, Mass., is still 

ous, she was eminently endeared to all her living. 



CHARACTER OF DR. GRIFFIN. 



•277 



must refer yon." He was a man of large stature, "both 
in body and mind, Ms person being in height six feet 
and three inches, and in every respect finely propor- 
tioned. His reasoning powers were acute, his imagina- 
tion soaring, his elocution impressive. In his habits of 
study and action, he was systematic and persevering, 
always endeavoring to perform well whatever he un- 
dertook. In the social circle, he was easy and com- 
panionable. In the ordinary intercourse of life, kind, 
generous, uncensorious and forgiving. He was simple- 
hearted and unsuspecting as a child ; and with a warm 
and sanguine temper, together with a much better un- 
derstandino' of human nature in its broad general fea- 
tures, and of the ordinary avenues to the human heart 
and conscience, than knowledge of the ways of the 
world and the sophistries of artificial life, he sometimes 
adopted measures which gave offence when he did not 
dream of it, and was exposed to uncharitable construc- 
tions in his most guileless and innocent actions. Hence 
he had some warm friends, and some bitter enemies. 
In his religious intercourse as a pastor, Dr. Griffin had 
a remarkable facility. He attached great importance 
to pastoral visitations. ' I have already referred to his 
success in this department of service, during the great 
revival. Judge Boudinot speaks of it as having been 
more blessed than his public sermons. A distinguished 
manufacturer in this city,f who sat under his ministry 
while he was pastor of the Second Church, has told 
me that he used to insist on having all the apprentices 



* See memoir of Dr. Griffin, by Dr. f William RankiD, Esq. 

Sprague, of Albany. 



278 



EEV. JAMES BICHAKDS. 



in his large establishment called in, when he came to 
the house on a pastoral visit, and would converse spe- 
cially with them all, one after another, on the subject 
of personal religion. But it was in the pulpit, and as 
a preacher chiefly, that Dr. Griffin attained the highest 
eminence. His voice was remarkably flexible, and 
was perfectly under his own control. On the deep 
guttural tones, it thrilled you like the pedal notes of 
an organ ; yet it could soften, with perfect ease, to suit 
the sentiment to be expressed, into the gentlest and 
most soothing utterances. His style was free, not ex- 
act ; and though he wrote his discourses, his manner 
in the pulpit was unembarrassed, and his gestures fre- 
quent and effective. There is said to have been great 
inequality in his ordinary discourses, as indeed there is 
in those which have been given to the public. But his 
preaching was ever glowing with divine truth earnestly 
expressed, and in his best efforts there was much to 
justify even the strong expression which has been ap- 
plied to him — " the prince of American preachers." 

The removal of Dr. Griffin from Newark, in 1809, 
did not leave the flock to which he had ministered, 
without a shepherd. Already his successor was on the 
ground with his family, and prepared to assume the 
charge as soon as he should relinquish it. 

The Eev. James Richards was the next pastor of 
this Church. He was born at New Canaan, Conn., 
October 29, 1767. He was the son of James Richards, 
a farmer of excellent character, and a descendant of 
Samuel Richards, who came to this country from 
Wales, during the reign of Queen Anne. His mother 



ME. EICIIAEDS's EAELY LIFE. 



2T9 



was Ruth Hanford, a most excellent Christian woman, 
and peculiarly skilled, it is said, in the management of 
her children. She was a woman of vigorous intellect, 
and many commanding as well as endearing qualities. 
James was the eldest of nine children ; feeble in body 
during his childhood, but remarkable even then for his 
fondness for study. When only thirteen years of age, 
he undertook the charge of a common district school, 
and with such success, as to secure the offer of the 
same post for the second time. It was his early wish 
to obtain a public education ; but as his father was not 
prepared to encourage and sustain the attempt, he ap- 
prenticed himself at the age of fifteen to the business 
of cabinet and chair-making, together with house paint- 
ing, in which capacity he labored for a short time in a 
cabinet maker's shop in the city of New York. 

Mr. Richards had been religiously educated, 'and 
like Griffin, was the subject of deep religious impres- 
sions in his childhood. But at the age of nineteen, 
convictions of sin broke in upon him, as he relates, 
in the midst of mirth and levity. The paugs of 
his soul were very sharp for three days, after which 
he obtained relief in the apprehension of an all-suffi- 
cient Saviour, from reading the impressive sentiments 
of the thirty-eighth Psalm, as paraphrased by Dr. 
Watts. He was made to see, as he testifies, his own 
impotence, whereas before, he had been accustomed to 
suppose the whole matter of conversion was in his own. 
hands ; and was alarmed in view of the enmity which 
he now felt in his heart towards God. But at length 
his heart melted, and the salvation which he before 



280 



ME. RICHAEDs's EARLY LITE. 



hated became Hs joy and liis song. "I was born an 
Arminian," said he, " and lived an Arminian, but ob- 
stinate freewiller as I was, I was at length, brought to 
i lick the dust ' at God's footstool, and accept of salva- 
tion by grace." 

Mr. Bichards's own conversion was immediately fol- 
lowed by earnest efforts on his part for the conversion 
of others, and such was tfyg zeal and fervor, with 
which he pursued this object, and especially the free- 
dom he displayed in speaking at meetings of confer- 
ence and prayer, that in the low state into which reli- 
gion had at that day fallen in his native region, it 
excited some surprise, and was the occasion of many 
remarks. 

He united with the Church in Stamford, Conn., on 
the 17th of September, 1786, and immediately began 
to look forward with strong desires to the work of the 
Christian ministry. With many discouragements and 
interruptions, he completed his preparatory studies 
through the assistance of two excellent female relatives, 
and entered Yale College in the year 1789. But, at 
the close of his freshman year, his studies were inter- 
rupted, first by want of pecuniary means, which com- 
pelled him to leave College, and afterwards by severe 
illness; so that, although his diligence and persever- 
ance overcame most of the obstacles of a private edu- 
cation, he did not go through College with his class, 
but received his degree of Bachelor of Arts out of 
course, in the year 1794. In the year 1793, he was li- 
censed to preach the gospel by an association in Fair- 
field county, Connecticut, and having preached for a 



MINISTRY AT MOREISTOWIST. 



281 



time in Wilton, and then in Ballston, Shelter Island 
and Sag Harbor, he commenced the work of the min- 
istry in Morristown in June, 1794, and was ordained 
as pastor of the Church in that place, by the Presby- 
tery of New York, on the first of May, 1795. Dr. 
Macwhorter preached the ordination sermon, from 
Acts xx : 24. Dr. Rodgers presided, and Mr. Austin 
gave the charge to the people. 

About the time when he received license to preach, 
young Richards, it is said, passed through Newark, 
and called at the parsonage with an introduction to 
Dr. Macwhorter. But, being a stranger, somewhat 
diffident and little used to society, his manners, it is 
likely, did no justice to his real character. Dr. Mac- 
whorter seemed to regard him with little favor, sub- 
jected him to a rather severe examination, spoke some- 
what sternly of his apprehended deficiencies, and sent 
him away with a discouraged and sorrowful heart. It 
was his testimony, however, in later life, as I am told, 
that the interview, trying as it was, did him good, and 
was a lesson to him in regard to his future intercourse 
with young men. 

The ministry of Mr. Richards in Morristown was 
signally successful. It was a difficult and laborious 
station, but his diligence and wisdom surmounted all 
obstacles, and the excellences of his character secured 
for him universal love and respect. In three memora- 
ble instances, his labors were attended with peculiar 
manifestations of Divine influence, first in the year 
1701, again in 1803 and '4, and lastly, in a manner 
more remarkable than in either of the former in- 



282 



EEMOVAL TO IfEWAEE. 



stances, in 1808. In the last instance, between seventy 
and eighty persons were converted, who united with 
the Church in that and the following year. 

Meanwhile, the expenses of Mr. Bichards's family 
were increasing, and his salary had become inadequate 
to supply their wants. Many of the people saw this, 
and acknowledged it, and several attempts were made 
to remedy the evil, but without success. This result 
was a severe trial to him. It mortified him exceeding- 
ly, and at first preyed upon his spirits. But he wisely 
resolved not to dwell upon the dark side of the pic- 
ture, but to give himself anew to the duties of his 
ministry, to serve God and his people with all his 
strength, and wait for the further movements of God's 
providence. .Nor did he want long. The applications 
which were made to him, after the removal of Dr. 
Griffin, to take the charge of the Church in Newark 
were urgent, and sustained by what appeared strong 
reasons. The people of Morristown came to the res- 
cue, by providing cheerfully for an increase of his sal- 
ary. But it was too late. Other reasons had come to 
light in favor of his removal ; he had already given 
the people here some encouragement ; and, when a call 
was unanimously offered him, the path of wisdom and 
duty seemed plain, and, with the consent and appro- 
bation of the Presbytery, he accepted it, and his con- 
nection with the Church in Morristown was dissolved. 

Mr. Bichards was installed as pastor of this Church 
on the 7th of June, 1809. Dr. Bomeyn, of New York, 
preached the sermon, from Acts xxiv: 24,25. Dr. 
Bowe presided and gave the charge, and Dr. Miller, of 



PRESBYTERY OF JERSEY. 



283 



Princeton, gave the exhortation to the people. It ap- 
pears, from an entry in his journal, that the perform- 
ances were peculiarly excellent and appropriate, and 
were heard with no small degree of feeling, and with 
universal approbation. "It was under a strong con- 
viction of duty," he records, " that I took leave of my 
people at Morristown and accepted the call to this peo- 
ple. The Lord grant that I may not be left to myself." 
He delivered his introductory sermon on the 12th of 
June, from I. Corinthians, iv: 1, 2. 

A few months after the installation of Dr. Richards, 
viz., on the 14th of November, 1809, the Presbytery 
of New York, with which this Church had been con- 
nected ever since its formation in 1738, a period of 
seventy-one years, was divided into two, by erecting a 
portion of its Churches into a new Presbytery bearing 
the old name, and changing the name of the remaining 
portion, of which this Church was one, into "The 
Presbytery of Jersey." Its first meeting under the 
new arrangement, was held in Morristown, April 24th, 
1810* 

The First Church had been hitherto, during nearly 
a century and a half, the only Presbyterian Church in 

* The Presbytery of Jersey was not a constituted a Presbytery by the name of 
new body, but the Presbytery of New the Presbytery of New York, &c. Resolved 
York under a new name; and that, as further, That the remaining part of the 
I have already had occasion to notice, was Presbytery of New York be hereafter 
a continuation of the ancient Presbytery known by the name of the Presbytery of 
of East Jersey, formed in the year 1733. Jersey.' Whereupon, Resolved, That as 
This the record shows. " The following the present Moderator is one of the mem- 
extract from the Minutes of Synod was bers set off to the new Presbytery, Mr. 
received and read : ' That so much of the Hillyer be appointed Moderator of this 
Presbytery of New York as lies on the Presbytery to come into office on the 
east side of Hudson river, &c, and so second Tuesday in January next." See 
much of the Presbytery of New York as Minutes of Pres. of Jersey, 
lies west of Hampstead Plains, &c, be 



284 



PLAN FOPw XEW CHURCHES. 



the town of Newark, except those of Orange and 
Bloomfleld, which had now become separate towns. 
But the time had come, when the need of greater 
facilities for the accommodation of a large and 
growing population, was manifest to all. Accordingly, 
as early as the Spring of 1809, about the time of Dr. 
Griffin's dismission, the business of church extension 
was entered upon with commendable zeal and enter- 
prise. At a meeting of the congregation, held in this 
house, April 8th, incipient steps were taken to that 
effect, and a large committee was appointed to draw 
a plan. The. committee reported at an adjourned 
meeting, on the 18th of the same month. Whereupon 
" it was resolved, that, from this congregation, a separate 
and distinct congregation should be set off, and meas- 
ures taken to invest it with all the powers and privi- 
leges of a body politic." For the encouragement and 
promotion of the design, it was also resolved, that 
when the new congregation should have become incor- 
porated and have built a meeting house, not less than 
fifty feet by seventy on its base, in a good and substan- 
tial manner, and should have called and settled a min- 
ister, this congregation would convey to them, with 
the reserve only of their own house of worship and 
the land occupied by it, two-sevenths of their real es- 
tate for the support of the gosj)el forever. 

At the same time, as it was plainly perceived that 
the day was not far distant when even this provision 
would be insufficient to meet the wants of a rapidly 
increasing population, the congregation proceeded, with 
a liberality and forethought which can not be too 



PLAN FOR NEW CHURCHES. 



285 



much admired, to agree that whenever it should be 
deemed advisable to establish a third Church, the 
same provisions, subject to the same conditions, should 
be made for the furtherance of that enterprise. 

Some difference of opinion seems to have existed at 
this time, as to the place where the second Church 
should be located ; the people both in the north and 
the south end of the town claiming the preference. 
To accommodate this dispute, it was determined by 
vote of the majority, that the people of the south end 
should have the first opportunity ; provided, however, 
that if they should not proceed immediately to the 
erection of a house of worship, and have the walls 
raised " as high as the water table" within six months 
from the date of the resolution, the obligation to divide 
the property in their favor should be void ; and that 
thereupon the people of the north end might commence 
the work, with the promise of the same privileges, 
provided they should have advanced to the same point, 
in the course of nine months from the close of the first 
period. 

Accordingly, the people in the south part of the 
town commenced the work, and, by the end of the 
time specified, had fulfilled the conditions on which 
they were entitled to the first claim. But just at that 
point, the zeal of the people in that neighborhood was 
diverted into another channel, the enterprise was sus- 
pended, the design failed, and the materials which had 
been collected were at length dispersed. 

After waiting through the remainder of that year, 
the people in the north part of the town began to 
make arrangements for building a Church in their own 



286 



SECOND PEESPYTEEIAN CHUECH. 



neighborlioocl. The corner-stone of the present Second 
Presbyterian Church was laid on the lYth of June, 
1810, by the Rev. Samuel Whelpley ; and, the edifice 
having been completed and dedicated, the Trustees 
chosen, and the Rev. Hooper Gumming, son of one of 
the leading members of the new congregation and a 
former pupil of Dr. Griffin at Andover, ordained and 
installed, ninety-three persons were dismissed in a 
body with recommendations from this Church, on the 
9th of October, 1811, and organized into a new Church 
on the 8th of November following. 

The conditions of the resolutions of 1809 being now 
fulfilled, on the part of the Second Church, this con- 
gregation deemed themselves obligated to fulfill their 
part of the engagement; but, as the division of the 
real estate between the two congregations seemed not 
expedient at that time, a temporary arrangement was 
agreed upon, by which, instead of the two-sevenths of 
the whole real estate, which had been pledged, one- 
third of the whole income should be annually set 
apart for the second congregation. 

The whole transaction, which resulted in the estab- 
lishment of the Second Presbyterian Church, took 
place with the entire approbation, and was forwarded 
by the active assistance of Dr. Richards. At the ser- 
vice of organization, he delivered an address, founded 
on the words of Hebrews xiii : 1 — " Let brotherly love 
continue ;" in which he affectionately and solemnly re- 
minded the persons about to be embodied, of their ob- 
ligations to God and one another, and exhorted them, 
with special earnestness, to the exercise of brotherly 



FIRST SABBATTI SCHOOL. 



287 



love. For a little time, as I am informed, the two pas- 
tors exercised a sort of joint ministry in the two con- 
gregations, officiating in each other's pulpit in the after- 
noon of every Sabbath ; but this arrangement being 
found on the whole undesirable, was soon abandoned. 

During the ministry of Mr. Richards, the first Sab- 
bath School in this 'congregation was established, under 
the superintendency, as I am told, of Moses Lyon, and 
held its meetings, for a time, in the gallery of the 
church. The first lecture-room, a low brick building, 
much smaller than the present one, and standing on 
the same spot, was erected in the year 1813.* The 
present pulpit was built in the year 1818 ; and the old 
one, a small octagonal structure, standing separate from 
the wall at a distance of several feet, and surmounted 
by a " sounding board," was presented to the Presby- 
terian Church in Paterson. 

Dr. Richards' ministry, especially the early part of 
it, seems to have been hardly less fruitful in conver- 
sions than that of his predecessor. About the close of 
the first year, a few were gathered into Christ's fold 
under its influence. But, between the years 1812 and 
1813, there was a very marked revival of God's work. 
It commenced, as we are informed by his journal, in 
the early part of the winter. The first Sabbath in 
January was a day of peculiar solemnity. In the ad- 
ministration of the Lord's Supper, the declining affec- 
tions of professed Christians seemed greatly revived. 



* There is a vote of the Trustees, bear- 
ing date April 16, which thus refers to the 
proposition : " The Sessions being desir- 
ous of having a large room erected for the 



purpose of lecturing, prayer meetings, &c, 
resolved that this Board aid and assist in 
the same." 



288 



REVIVALS. 



Some souls, he records, have been awakened, and 
others have found joy and peace in believing. The 
next day intelligence came that, both in the Second 
Church and in the Church at Eiizabethtown, a similar 
manifestation of God's presence had been enjoyed. 
The coincidence seemed to predict the happiest results. 
An extract from the same journal, under date of Feb- 
ruary 6th, shows the power and progress of the Heav- 
enly influence. " More than seventy persons appear 
now under serious impressions, and asking the way to 
Ziou. About fifteen are entertaining hopes of being 
converted, several of the cases striking, and affording 
a delightful prospect." On the 28th of February, 
twelve persons were propounded as candidates for 
church membership ; and at the communion in March 
following, thirteen were admitted on profession of their 
faith. At the same time, about the same number are 
spoken of as indulging the hope that they had recently 
been born again, and about ninety as still under strong 
religious impressions. The means of describing this 
and other similar spiritual harvests, which were enjoyed 
about this period, are, unhappily, exceedingly scanty. 
There was one, more remarkable than any of its pre- 
decessors, between the years 1816 and 1817, among 
the fruits of which, sixty-nine were added to the 
Church at one time ; and the number received during 
nine months amounted to one hundred and thirty-five. 
"When Dr. Richards first took the charge of the con- 
gregation, the number of communicants was about 
530, and, in the course of fourteen years, 556 were 
added to it — -332 by profession, and 227 by certificates 



PREVALENCE OF INTEMPERANCE. 



289 



from other clrurches — making, in all, 108G to whom, in 
the course of that period, he statedly administered the 
sacred ordinances. During his ministry, the Church 
contained the largest number of communicants that 
ever belonged to it at one time, viz., about seven hun- 
dred, and that, notwithstanding the dismission of the 
large colony that united in the formation of the Second 
Church. It is said to have been, at the time referred 
to, viz., about the year 1817, the largest Presbyi^rian 
Church in the United States, except the First Church 
in Philadelphia. Six young men connected with it 
were, during Dr. Kichards's ministry, licensed to preach 
the gospel. 

But, even this bright picture of spiritual success, has 
its reverse. The occasions for church discipline, during 
the ministry of Dr. Richards, were very numerous. 
About thirty cases stand on record, as having occurred 
within the first seven years — chiefly for the sin of in- 
temperance. That desolating pestilence, which spread 
so fearfully among the people of our country about 
that period, and seemed to threaten the destruction 
both of social order and the Church of God, diffused 
its noxious influences into this favored communion. 
But nobly did the pastor and Session meet the demands 
of the alarming exigency. A very considerable por- 
tion of their time, for several years, must have been 
taken up in attending to cases of this sort. About 
forty persons were, during Dr. Eichards's ministry, sol- 
emnly deprived of church privileges for unchristian 
conduct ; and death and removals in various ways, had 



19 



290 



DISCOUKAGING APPEARANCES. 



reduced the number, at the time when he resigned his 
charge, to about five hundred and twenty. 

The latter part of this period appears to have been 
a season of unusual discouragement and religious de- 
clension. According to a statement of Dr. Richards 
himself, during the two years which preceded his dis- 
mission, only seven persons were received into the 
Church ; and, during five years, although the congrega- 
tion, was so large, only thirty made profession of their 
faith, and many of these were but the gleanings of 
I former revivals * He speaks of the Church, in an ad- 
dress delivered at a church meeting on the 23d of July, 
1823, as having had already " an awful sifting 
il while the train seems to be laid," he continues, " to 
sift it still more. It is distressing to look within the 
precincts of the Ohurch, and let the eye pass round 
from one to another. It is dark as night to look with- 
out, and notice the state of the congregation and the 
town." The address to which I have referred, appears 
to have been designed to stir the consciences of the 
congregation, by presenting the dark side of the pic- 
ture in its darkest shades. But Dr. Richards was not 
a man to exaggerate facts, even for the sake of doing 
good ; though his sorrowful remembrance of the 
brighter days, and keen desire for their return, might 
make the present seem darker, comparatively, in his 
eye, than it would have seemed to a less interested ob- 
server. 

But Providence had now other work for him to per- 

* From the same statement I learn that received into the Second Church, 
within the same period only ten had been 



EEMOVAL OF DE. EICIIAEDS. 



291 



form, in another and still more responsible station. 
By his constant devotion to study, he had made large 
attainments in theological knowledge ; and by his care- 
ful and discreet management of affairs entrusted to 
him, public and private, he had acquired a reputation 
which marked him as one of the first men in the 
Church, in respect to qualifications for the head of 
a theological institution. Accordingly, in the autumn 
of 1823, having been a second time solicited to take 
the professorship of theology in Auburn Theological 
Seminary, he accepted the appointment, and having 
resigned his charge here, was inaugurated to that 
office October 29th, 1823 ; having served this congrega- 
tion in the ministry a little more than fourteen years, 
and just commenced the fifty-seventh year of his age. 

It does not belong to us to trace his life and services 
after he left Newark. He took the charge of the Sem- 
inary when under great embarrassment. He left it 
strong and prosperous. Having fully answered the 
expectations of its most sanguine friends, and attained 
a rank second to none among theological teachers, he 
died in his 76th year, full of honors, August 2, 1843. 

The character of Dr. Eichards, as well as that of 
Dr. Griffin, has been drawn with skill and discrimina- 
tion, by those who knew him well, and had access to 
the best means of judging.* It will not be necessary 
for me to do more than glance at some of its most ob- 
vious features. His most distinguishing traits were en - - 
eegy, sagacity and piety. His early youth illustrates 

* See '* Biographical Sketch" by Rev. indebted in compiling the above account 
Samuel H. Gridley, to which I am largely of Dr. R.'s ministry. 



292 



CHAEACTEE OF DE. EICHAEDS. 



well the quiet and indomitable perseverance with which 
he pursued an object on which he had deliberately fixed 
his purpose. But for this feature of his character, he 
would never have emerged from the farm or mechanic's 
shop, much less have surmounted all the obstacles 
which hedged up his way to the attainment of a liberal 
education. The same quality was displayed in all his 
theological studies, and in all his public and private 
enterprises. His reputation for sagacity is well under- 
stood by those who remember his ministry here. He 
seldom, if ever, made a serious mistake in judgment, 
in respect either to characters or events. Hence, he 
was often resorted to for counsel, not only by his own 
people, but by his brethren in the ministry, and all 
classes of his acquaintance. To the combination of 
these two traits of character may be referred the firm- 
ness which always distinguished him in trying cir- 
cumstances. His sagacity made him clear and con- 
fident in his judgments. He saw the right way early, 
and had no occasion therefore either to waver or re- 
cede. His energy made him fearless of opposition, 
and determined to carry out his convictions, whatever 
difficulties might betide him. Hence the justness of 
the observation said to have been made of him by an 
intimate acquaintance : "To a steady opposition, he 
was the most impracticable man I ever knew." And 
hence the confidence expressed on one occasion, and 
doubtless felt on many, when he was known to have 
enlisted in an enterprise, " Then it will go ! It will 
go I" Dr. Richards was never a party man, never an 
extreme man; and yet, with all his moderation, he 



PARALLEL BETWEEN BIGHABDS AND GRIFFIN. 293 

was pre-eminently a decided man. Violent combatants 
sometimes murmured, that they could not fix him upon 
either side ; yet he could fix himself, and knew his 
own position ; and neither the one or the other found 
it easy to j^ush him to the wall. The piety of Dr. 
Richards was ardent, constant, unpretending, and emi- 
nently sincere. He walked with God, and amidst all 
the agitations and enticements of the world, had his 
heart above it. 

The names of Eichards and Griffin both fill a high 
place on the records of the Church. Both were, in 
their day, among the greatest lights of the Christian 
ministry. And yet it would be difficult to find two 
such illustrious peers, occupying the same ground and 
conversant with the same scenes and events, in whom, 
with so many points of beautiful resemblance, there 
are so many others of striking and as beautiful con- 
trast. Look only at their countenances — their per- 
sons ; they are princes, both of them — tall, stately, 
majestic — yet how very different seems the style of 
their majesty. In the characteristics of their minds 
and courses of action, we find the same combined har- 
mony and diversity. Both were eminent as preachers. 
Eichards, says Frelinghuysen, was sound, practical, in- 
structive, often eloquent. Griffin, we may rejoin, was 
always eloquent, and when instruction was his special 
aim, eminently instructive. From the one, you would 
be likely to receive the most deep and soul-thrilling 
impressions of truth ; from the other, the most precise 
and accurate explanations of its nature and bearings. 



294 PAEALLEL BETWEEN EICHAEDS AND GEIFEIN. 

Griffin used language rhetorically, and of course some- 
times loosely. Richards was anxious to express his 
exact thought and shade of thought, whatever else he 
might sacrifice. Griffin's style was sometimes too 
ornate ; Richards's occasionally too homely. Both 
wrote and re-wrote their best productions ; Richards 
with reference to being understood, and Griffin in or- 
der to produce a better and stronger effect. In respect 
to the excellence of their performances, Richards 
might be said to occupy a high table-land, where he 
expatiated with the stride of a giant, — never soaring, 
never descending. Griffin ascended peaks not reached 
by ordinary mortals, yet sometimes slumbered in the 
vales, distinguished only by the still lingering glow 
caught above in his more favored moments. In accom- 
plishing the object of their efforts, both were eminently 
successful ; the one carried the garrison by storm, the 
other could maintain a long siege and starve the enemy 
out of his strong-holds. In their intercourse with 
mankind, Griffin was simple-hearted and unsusj)ecting ; 
Richards wary, far-reaching, and on the alert. The 
one was easily circumvented by the arts of the hostile ; 
the other never committed himself to any man, and 
always saw and could defeat the most cunning strata- 
gem. To use his own expression, as related to me by 
an acquaintance, he cut the cords by which they man- 
aged their machines so far off, that they could not tell 
where to find the ends, and so could not tie them 
again. The memory of both these men will long be 
cherished in the community where they ministered, 



SYNOD OF NEW JERSEY. 



295 



first in succession, and then side by side in loving 
brotherhood. This Church could not have spared the 
gifts and services of either of them. Richards, I ap- 
prehend, has left his impress on the character of the 
people the more deeply of the two ; but then his min- 
istry was nearly twice as long as that of his predeces- 
sor. Griffin was instrumental in bringing into the 
Church the larger numbers, in proportion to the time ; 
but then, as he observed, he was here in harvest time, 
whereas his brother who followed him, came " in the 
fall of the year." In theological views, both occupied 
nearly the same position, — that of New England di- 
vines of the old school — the school of Edwards, and 
Bellamy, and Smalley, and Dwight. Both were earnest 
revivalists, yet strenuously opposed to all fanaticism 
and wild-fire. Both used the gifts which God had 
given them to the same end — the glory of Christ — and 
the dissemination of the knowledge of Him crucified. 

I have now come with you, my friends, to the period 
when the history of the illustrious dead gives place to 
that of those who are still living and acting on the 
stage of life. The time has not come to speak of their 
character or estimate the results of their labors. I will 
simply mention a few general facts belonging to the 
succeeding period, and then bring my narrative to a 
close. 

The same year in which Dr. Richards was dismissed, 
the Synod of New York and New Jersey was divided. 
The old Synod including the Presbyteries of Hudson, 
North River, New York and Long Island, took the 



296 



REV. WILLIAM T. HAMILTON. 



name of New Yor\ and a new one was constituted, 
consisting of the Presbyteries of Jersey, New Bruns- 
wick, Newton and Susquehanna, and taking the name 
of the Synod of New Jeesey. The first meeting of 
the Synod of New Jersey was held in the First Church 
of Newark on the 21st of October, 1823, at 10 o'clock, 
A. M., and was opened with a sermon by the Rev. 
John Woodhull, D. D., of Freehold, from Phill. iii, 8. 
After sermon, and the organization of the body, the 
Rev. Archibald Alexander, D. D., was chosen Moder- 
ator, and the Rev. Geo. S. Woodhull and the Rev. 
John McDowell, were chosen Clerks* With this Syn- 
od the Churches in Newark now became connected. 

The successor of Dr. Richards was the Rev. William 
T. Hamilton, an Englishman by birth, who received 
the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the Col- 
lege of New Jersey in the year 1825. After preach- 
ing to the congregation for a time, a large portion of 
them were disposed to invite him to become their 
pastor ; but yielding to the wishes of others of their 
number who were desirous of hearing another candi- 
date, they became divided in their preferences, and af- 
ter a violent struggle, in which the interference of the 
Presbytery became necessary, determined to separate 
and form a new congregation. For this purpose, a 
large number seceded, built a new house of worship, 
settled the Rev. Joshua T. Russell as their minister, 
and constituted what is now known as the Third Pres- 
byterian Church. The new organization took place in. 

* Furnished from the Records, by the the Synod of New Jersey. 
Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, present Clerk of 



TIIITID PEESUYTETIIAN CIIUKCII. 



297 



the Session-room of the First Church, from which its 
original members — 56 in number — had received certifi- 
cates of dismission for the purpose, on the 8th of June, 
1824 

The circumstances which led to this measure were 
infelicitous. But the measure itself was one for which 
the condition of the community had long been ripe. 
The old house of worship was crowded, and the con- 
gregation already overgrown. Dr. Richards had seen 
the need of a new church for a long time, but knew 
not how to effect the object ; and I am told that, when 
one of the people lamented the division in his presence, 
he exjxressed his satisfaction at the event, observing 
that what could not be brought about by peaceful 
means, had been accomplished by contention, and that 
the result was an occasion for thankfulness. 

That some kindly feeling prevailed, even in the 
midst of strife, is manifest from a vote of the Session, 
which I find on record, directing their clerk to inform 
the Session of the Third Church, that it would be 
"perfectly agreeable" that they should occupy the 
house of worship of the First Church, until their own 
should be completed, every Sabbath afternoon, unless 
circumstances should thereafter require some other ar- 
rangement ; and to propose that the two congregations 
should alternately occupy the house for a third service 
on Sabbath evenings. On the 15th of November, 
1824, seventy-two persons, members of the First 
Church, were dismissed and "affectionately recom- 
mended " to the fellowship of the Third Presbyterian 



298 FINAL SETTLEMENT OF CHUECH PEOPERTY. 

Church in Newark, now under the pastoral care of Mr. 
Russell. 

The new Church, having fulfilled the conditions of 
the vote of 1809, providing prospectively for the es- 
tablishment of such a Church whenever it shpuld be 
deemed desirable, now presented their claim to the 
portion of the church property promised by that vote. 
The congregation of the First Church responded af- 
firmatively ; and, after some negotiations between the 
parties, respecting the precise amount to be appro- 
priated, two-sevenths of all the real estate owned in 
1809, except the church and lecture-room and land oc- 
cupied by them, were set apart for their use. 

Meanwhile, the Trustees in their various divisions 
and appropriations of the property, had made no at- 
tempt to convey a permanent title. It was supposed 
they had not the power. But as it now seemed de- 
sirable that a final settlement should be effected, ap- 
plication was made to the Legislature of the State ; 
and an act obtained, bearing date November 4, 1825, 
entitled " an act for the relief of the Trustees of the 
First Presbyterian Church in Newark." This act, after 
setting forth the original source and intent of the 
church property, and the appropriations which had 
been made by the Trustees of the First Church " gra- 
tuitously," and " in pursuance of the wishes of the con- 
gregation," clothed the said Trustees with full power 
to make conveyance of the lands included in those 
appropriations to the several Churches mentioned 
therein, namely, Trinity Church in Newark ; the First 
Presbyterian Church in Orange, and the Second and 



PKESBYTEKY OF NEWABK. 



299 



Third in Newark, according to the terms before agreed 
upon between the parties ; " the same to be held solely 
and forever for the support of the Gospel in the said 
congregations, or religious societies respectively, and 
for no other purpose." The deeds of conveyance were 
accordingly ordered by the Board of Trustees, to the 
two first-named Churches, in August 1826, and to the 
others in the month of May following. 

Mr. Hamilton was invited to become the pastor of 
this Church, in pursuance of a vote of the congrega- 
tion at a meeting held on the 17th of June, 1824, at 
which Dr. McDowel, of Elizabethtown, presided. His 
installation by the Presbytery of Jersey, took place on 
the 27 th of July in the same year. 

In the autumn of the year 1824, the Presbytery of 
Jersey, which had existed under that name fifteen 
years, was divided by the Synod of New Jersey, at its , 
own request, into two Presbyteries, the Peesbyteet 
of Newaek, and the Presbytery of Elizabethtown, of 
which the former held its first meeting at Jersey City, 
November 2, 1824. The property belonging to the 
old Presbytery, consisting of books, money for pur- 
poses of education, &c, was equally divided by a 
committee appointed for that purpose. The last two 
volumes of the Eecords were assigned to the Presby- 
tery of Elizabethtown, and the preceding volumes, in- 
cluding, besides those of the old Presbytery of New 
York, the first three years of the Presbytery of Jersey, 
and running back to the year 1775, to that of Newark. 

In the year 1825, the interior of the church edifice 
was thoroughly altered, the ceiling lowered, and the 



300 



EEVIVAL OF 1832 : NEW CHUKCHES. 



floor and pews changed, leaving only here and there a 
slight trace of the original finishing. The present lec- 
ture room was erected, as nearly as I can ascertain, in 
the Spring of 1832. 

Towards the latter part of Dr. Hamilton's ministry, 
there was a memorable manifestation of religious feel- 
ing in the congregation. The pastor characterizes it 
in the record, as " the glorious revival of religion with 
which the Lord Jesus favored this portion of his Zion 
in February, 1832, chiefly under the labors of Rev. 
H. Norton and Rev. Joel Parker, of New York." A 
" protracted meeting," or continued series of religious 
exercises, occupying the entire day for many days in 
succession, was held ; and other special measures for 
deepening and extending the religious impression, were 
resorted to. The number of hopeful converts during 
this season is not stated, but at the communion in May? 
1832, one hundred and twenty-four persons were ad- 
mitted to the Church together, on the profession of 
their faith, and forty-five adults received the ordinance 
of baptism. 

We have already had occasion to notice the forma- 
tion of several Churches, either wholly or in part col- 
onies from this. On the 14th of April, 1831, the 
Fourth Presbyterian Church was organized in the ses- 
sion room of the First Church by the Presbytery of 
Newark. It consisted of twelve members ; two from 
the First, four from the Second, and six from the Third 
Churches. The Rev. Dr. Weeks became its first pas- 
tor, in July 1832. This Church is now extinct. 

The African Presbyterian Church, consisting of peo- 



REV. ANSEL D. EDDY. 



301 



pie of color, was organized by a commission from the 
same Presbytery, on the last Sabbath in October, 
1831* 

In the month of March, 1834, about forty persons 
were dismissed from the First Church, to form the first 
Free Chnrch in Newark ; and were organized as such 
in the lectnre-room of the First Chnrch, by a commis- 
sion of which Dr. Hillyer was the chairman, May 22d, 
1834.f To encourage this enterprise, the Trustees 
made a donation of $500 to the new congregation. It 
has now become a Congregational Church. 

During the winters of 1833 and 1834, Dr. Hamilton 
was absent at the South on account of his health. 
Eeturning in the Spring, he remained through the 
warm season ; and in the Autumn, having been advised 
by his physicians, that his health would again require 
him to spend the Winter in a warmer climate, he re- 
signed his pastoral charge, and was dismissed October 
22, 1834. He was soon after settled in Mobile, Ala,, 
where he still remains. 

The successor of Dr. Hamilton was the Rev. Ansel 
D. Eddy, a graduate of Union College in the class of 
1817, and formerly the pastor of a Church in Canan- 
daigua, N. Y. Having received a unanimous call, he 
assumed the charge of the pulpit in the month of July, 
and was installed on the 11th of August, 1835. 

In the year 1838, the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church became divided into two bodies 
both claiming its name and rights. J The Synod of 

* Records of Newark Presbytery, p. 346. % To state the causes of this unhappy 
t Records of Newark Presbytery, p. 373. separation, would require more space than 



302 SYNOD OF NEW TOEK AND NEW JEKSEY. 



New Jersey declaring its adherence to the one, and 
the Presbyteries of Newark and Montrose sending 
their commissioners to the other, the two Presbyteries 
were excluded from the Synod, the latter in October, 
1838, and the former during the following year* 
Thereupon a new Synod was formed, called the Synod 
of Newark, which held its first meeting in this house, 
October 15th, 1839, and was opened by a sermon from 
the Eev. Dr. Hillyer, from Genesis xiii : 7, 8, 9. The 
Rev. Barnabas Kin^ was chosen as its Moderator. In 
the following Spring, this Synod and that of New York 
were united in one body, and took the name of the 
Synod of New York and New Jersey. It held its 
first meeting in the city of New York, on the third 
Tuesday in October 1840, and the Eev. Dr. Fisher 
preached the opening sermon from 1 Cor. xv: 58 
With this body the Church is still in connection.f 

can be given to it in the present narrative, the Presbytery of Newark be enjoined be- 

and the writer has no disposition to enter tween that time and the meeting of the 

into the mournful details. Both bodies General Assembly, 1839, to decide its 

adhere to the same standards of doctrine course in reference to the attendance of its 

and discipline. May they both learn "how Commissioners on the body claiming to be 

good and how pleasant it is for brethren the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 

to dwell together in unity." Church, and which convened in the First 

* The action of the Synod respecting the Presbyterian church in Philadelphia, in 
Presbytery of Newark, was as follows: May, 1838, and should that Presbytery 
Oct., 1838. " Besolved, That the Presby- send Commissioners," &c, "and whereas, 
tery of Newark be enjoined between this the said Presbytery of Newark did send 
time and the next General Assembly, to Commissioners to the said Body, in May 
decide on its course in regard to this sub- last, as appears by the printed Minutes of 
ject ; and if that Presbytery shall send said Body, therefore, by said act and res- 
Commissioners to the Body appointed to olution, the Presbytery of Newark is no 
meet m May next, by the Body calling it- longer connected with this Synod." — Min- 
self the General Assembly, which met in utes for 1839, copied by the present stated 
the First Presbyterian Church in May clerk, the Rev. R. K. Rodgers. 
last, the said Presbytery shall be consid- f See Minutes : for extracts from which 
ered thenceforth as no longer in connec- I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. 
tion with this Synod." — Minutes, p. 21. John N. Lewis, present stated clerk of the 

1839. "Whereas, the Synod at its last Synod of New York and New Jersey, 
meeting in Morristown, resolved, That 



NEW CHURCHES. 



303 



During the ministry of Dr. Eddy, the Second Free 
Presbyterian Church was formed. Seven persons were 
dismissed from this Church to assist in founding it, on 
the 24th of May, 1836, and it was organized with about 
forty members. Its existence was of short duration. 
On the 31st of January, 1837, a commission of the 
Presbytery then in session, organized a new one, com- 
prising most of its members, together with others, 
which took the name of the Central Presbyterian 
Church, by which it is still known. The Kev. Charles 
Hoover was the same evening installed as its pastor. 
The services took place in this house, and Dr. Magie, 
of Elizabethtown, preached the sermon. The Rev. 
George C. Lucas, the present pastor, was installed in 
the summer of 1849. 

In the Spring of 1847, Dr. Eddy took a voyage to 
Europe, and was absent during the summer. Soon 
after his return, he resigned his charge, and was dis- 
missed by the Presbytery, February 2 2d, 1848. 

Before this time, several attempts had been made to 
organize another congregation, to meet the pressing 
wants of a growing community. In the course of the 
summer following the dismission of Dr. Eddy, seventy- 
two persons, fifty-nine at first, and nineteen afterwards, 
were dismissed from this Church to begin a new enter- 
prise under the direction and ministry of their former 
pastor. The Fifth Presbyterian, which has since 
changed its name by the direction of the Presbytery, 
to that of Park Presbyterian Church, was accordingly 
organized in Library Hall, on the 2d of April, 1848. 
The Rev. A. D. Eddy, D. D., was installed as its pastor, 



804 



]*EW CHUECHES. 



June 1, 1848. The Kev. Jonathan B. Condit, D. D., 
preached the sermon froni Rorn. xi : 13.; "I magnify 
my office."* 

During the year 1848, and subsequently, five per- 
sons were dismissed to aid in establishing the Sixth 
Presbyterian Church ; which was organized with thirty- 
six members, October 1, 1848. A commodious house 
of worship was erected for their use, and dedicated to 
the worship of God, December 26th, 1849. The Kev. 
William Aikman, its first pastor, was installed the 
same day. His brother, the Rev. Robert Aikman, 
preached from 1 Cor. i: 21. 

Another detachment of seven was sent out during 
the same year, to aid in forming the High street Pres- 
byterian Church, which was organized in the house of 
worship of the Third Church, with thirty-eight mem- 
bers, on the 16th of September, 1849. The Rev. Mr. 
Poor was installed as its first pastor, November 7th, 
1849. The services took place in this house, and the 
sermon was preached by the Rev. George L. Prentiss, 
from 1 Cor. xiv: 20.f 

The present pastor took the charge of this pulpit, 
on the 28th of October, and was installed by the 
Presbytery of Newark, December 13th, 1849. The 
Rev. Henry B. Smith, Professor in Amherst College, j 
preached the sermon from Col. ii: 9 .J 

* Its house of worship, of which the cor- % Since the settlement of the present 
ner stone was laid in the summer of 1849, pastor, two new Presbyterian Churches- 
was completed and dedicated in the month have been organized ; the German Church, 
of August, 1851. by a commission from the Presbytery of 

t The dedication of its house of worship Newark, in the summer of 1852, and the 

a beautiful edifice of stone, took place in South Park Presbyterian Church, on the 

the month of September, 1S52. 20th day of March, 1853. To assist in the 



STATISTICAL SUMMAEY. 



305 



The history of the Church, reckoning the time from 
the commencement of its first pastor's ministry in this 
place, in October, 1667, to January 1, 1851, embraces 
a period of one hundred and eighty-three years and 
three months. During that time the number of its 
pastors who have completed their ministry, including 
the short and somewhat uncertain ministry of Mr. 
Brainerd, is thirteen ; and their several terms of ser- 
vice, as nearly as I am able to fix them, are as follows : 

1. Abraham Pierson, senior, from October 1, 1667 
to August 9, 1678 — a little short of eleven years. 

2. Abraham Pierson, junior, from July 28, 1669, to 
about April 2, 1692 — twenty-two years and eight 
months. Of this period he was assistant minister two 
years and seven months, colleague pastor six years and 
five months, sole pastor thirteen years and eight 
months. His whole pastorate was twenty years and 
one month. 

3. John Prudden, from August 23, 1692, to June 9, 
1699 — nearly seven years. 

4. Jabez Wakeman, from November 16, 1669, to 
October 29, 1704, about five years, of which time he 
was the installed pastor probably about four years. 

5. Nathaniel Bowers, from June 16, 1709, to Au- 
tomation of the latter, twenty-nine per- ination in the city of Newark now corn- 
sons were dismissed and recommended prises ten regularly organized Churches, 
from the First Church, including one of including one German and one colored 
its elders ; and the services of organization congregation, besides two or three mis- 
took place in its house of worship. The sionary stations. 

Kev. James P. Wilson, D.D., was installed The Third Church withdrew from the 
as the first pastor of the new Church, Presbytery of Newark and joined that of 
October 25, 1853; sermon by Rev. Samuel Elizabethtown, belonging to the other 
Fisher, D. D. The Presbyterian denom- General Assembly, in the autumn of 1851. 

20 





306 



STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 



gust. 1716 — seven years, viz., six years as pastor, and 
one as candidate. 

6. Joseph Webb, from December 16, 1719, to Xo_ 
vember 1736 — nearly eighteen years, viz., seventeen 
years as pastor, and one as candidate. 

7. Aaron Burr, from December, 1736, to the autumn 
of 1755 — • nineteen years, viz.. eighteen years as pastor, 
and one as candidate. 

8. John Brainerd, from the autumn of 1755, to May, 
1759 — three years and a half, including a season of 
absence, whose length is not ascertained. 

9. Alexander Maewhorter, D. D., from the sumruer 
of 1759, to July 20, ISO 7, excluding less than two 
years, when he was absent in North Carolina — forty-six 
years. 

10. Edward D. Griffin, D. D., from October 20, 
1801, to April 27, 1809 — seven and a half years, viz., 
live years and nine months as colleague with Dr. Mac- 
whorter. and one year and nine months as sole pastor 

11. James Richards, D. D., from June 7, 1809, to 
the autumn of 1S23 — a little more than fourteen years. 

12. William T. Hamilton, D. D., from July 27, 1824, 
to October 22, 183-1 — ten years and three months. 

13. Ansel D. Eddy. D. D., from August 11, 1835, to 
February 22. 1848, twelve years and rive months. 

Of this number, four have died in the service, and 
their remains lie buried among you. One laid down 
the office of the ministrv but remained anions the 
people, serving them whenever there was occasion, 
during a long life, and is also buried by the side of his 



STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 



307 



parishioners. Three were called away much against 
the will of the people, to take responsible stations in 
literary or theological institutions, and one to become 
a missionary among the Aborigines of America, One 
was dismissed on account of ill-health, requiring a dif- 
ferent climate ; and of the remainingthree, one is now 
the pastor of a new congregation in the same city. 

From its beginning, in 1667, to 1719, the Church 
belonged to the Congregational or Independent order. 
Since that time it has been connected with the follow- 
ing Presbyterian bodies, viz : 

Presbytery of Philadelphia, from 1719 to 1733. 
" " East Jersey, " 1733 to 1738. 
" " New York, " 1738 to 1810. 
" " Jersey, " 1810 to 1824. 

" Newark, . " 1824 
Synod of Philadelphia u 1719 to 1745. 

" u New York, " 1745 to 1758. 

" " N. Y. and Phila,, " 1758 to 1788. 
" " N. Y. and N. J., " 1788 to 1823. 
" " New Jersey, " 1823 to 1839. 

" " Newark, ic 1839 to 1840. 

" " N. Y. and N. J., " 1840 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, from 
1788 to the present time. 

Thus have the wheels of time, rolling steadily along, 
brought us down to the present eventful period — 
eventful to us at least, beyond all other periods. In 
long succession, we have seen one generation pass 
away and another come, till at length we find ourselves 
occupying the same places, surrounded by the same 



^08 



CONCLUDING- EEMAEKS. 



objects, and engaged in the same pursuits with those 
whose history we have been endeavoring to trace. 
Many affecting lessons might be drawn from this re- 
view, local and limited as its sphere is. But they will 
force themselves I am sure, spontaneously on your at- 
tention, and you will scarcely need any suggestions 
from me. 

Where are the men now, who in successive ages 
have called this First Church in Newark our Church 
— the men who went through the perils of the war 
with Macwhorter, and rejoiced to behold the rising 
honors of the infant College with Burr — who wept at 
the untimely end of the beloved Wakeman, grew tired 
of the unpretending services of worthy Messrs. Webb 
&nd Prudden, measured their strength of will success- 
fully with the younger Pierson, or followed his good 
father, ripe in years and honors, to the grave ? Where 
are the men whom the eloquent Griffin awakened and 
toned to righteousness, or who withstood rebelliously 
Ms thrilling appeal to their consciences — the men 
whom Richards taught, and built up in the most holy 
faith, or who hardened their hearts under his faithful 
ministry, and so " treasured up unto themselves wrath 
against the day of wrath V Where, O where are they' 
now ? Almost all gone. Their race is run, their mis- 
sion finished, their record with all its good or ill, its 
faithfulness or neglect, has passed the broad seal of 
time, and cannot be altered in a single syllable or pen 
stroke. We, as I have intimated, are enacting our his- 
tory. Some future hand will trace the history of this 
congregation, and gathering up what we have pre- 



( < >X( LT'DIXG REMA RKS. 



309 



served of the past, will cany it on through your lives 
and through mine, and tell our children and our chil- 
dren's children, who we were, and what we either did 
or left undone. 

In less than seventeen years from this time, this com 
gregation will celebrate its second centennial anniver- 
sary. That, we may well believe, will be a great day 
here, if the Church lives and flourishes as we trust it 
will. Then a large portion of the present race will 
have left the stage. My ministry will, in all proba- 
bility, have ended — perhaps for years. And these 
scenes, fresh still in the memories of the elder class, 
will come up as matters of history. And what will 
they say of us ? What report will be given of the 
period beginning with Xovember 1849, and ending 
God knows when ? Shall it be a period over which 
the devout shall love to linger ; a period of holy de- 
votion and blameless lives on the part of those who pro- 
fess the faith ; of sweet refreshings and anticipations 
of heaven, and of sacred zeal and energy guided by 
wisdom, in the service of the blessed Redeemer ? Shall 
they say of it, " during that period, religion flourished ; 
prayer meetings were well attended, for all loved to 
be there ; the Sabbath-school was flourishing, and the 
children were never so well instructed in the knowledge 
of Christ ; the young men and young women cheered 
each other in the paths of virtue and holiness, and 
strengthened each other's hearts in resisting evil; 
Christian morals, though they had languished, soon 
revived, and were strenuously promoted ; large contri- 



310 



CONCLUDING EEMAEKS. 



butions were made to all tlie branches of Christian be- 
nevolence, and the First Church in Newark was, be- 
yond all former experience, a burning and a shining 
light in the community V Shall our record be, that, 
blessing our endeavors, and answering our prayers, 
the Spirit of the Lord came down with power among 
us, and the refreshings from on high experienced in 
the days of Burr, and Macwhorter, and Richards, and 
Hamilton, were fairly eclipsed by the superior power, 
steadiness, and purity of those which were enjoyed 
during this period ? Shall this be the history of our 
times, brethren, when we lie beneath yonder clods of 
the valley ? Or shall it be, that during that period, 
religion languished, the Church grew negligent, dis- 
cord and jealousy prevailed among brethren, Chris- 
tians had a bad name among their fellow citizens, gen- 
uine conversions were very few, and had not the Lord 
in His great mercy, raised up another and more faith- 
ful race of men, that venerable congregation would 
have had by this time, not even a name that she 
liveth ? 

My very soul, brethren, trembles with solicitude, as 
I consider how the time is flying, and what characters 
each movement of its telegraphic points is jotting down 
upon the records of eternity. It is not that we cherish 
ambition. Fame is the veriest bubble that wise men 
have ever thought it. But the memory of the just is 
blessed ; and they that turn many to righteousness, 
shall shine as the stars in the firmament of our God 
for ever and ever. The judgment of posterity is some- 
thing to be thought of, but the judgment of the last 



CONCLUDING EEMARKS. 



311 



great day is more momentous. Then shall we, with 
all that have gone before us, be weighed in the balance ; 
and what if then, we of the present age should be 
found wanting '? 

Let us address ourselves, brethren, to the Lord's 
work, and lay out our whole strength to accomplish it- 
Trusting in God, and girded with might by His Spirit, 
let us endeavor to make our period bright with souls 
redeemed and Christian jewels multiplied and polished. 
That one sentence, " "Well done, good and faithful," 
uttered from the lips of our Master, will be an ample 
reward. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
with you all. Amen. 



APPENDIX. 



Complete and accurate catalogues of Elders, Deacons and Trustees can- 
not be made, for want of records. Those which follow are presented as the 
best which could be obtained in present circumstances, and must stand sub- 
ject to correction, should further discoveries be made. During the period 
which no record of the Church covers, a few names of Elders have been 
culled from the minutes of the Synod. 



ELDEKS. 


In Synod. 


Died. 


Age. 


Caleb Ward, 


1720 


- 1736 


- 66 


Samuel Farrand, 


1726 


- 1750 


- 69 


Samuel Ailing, sen.,* 


1727 


prior to 1732 


- 64 


Samuel Ailing, jr., - 


1737 


- 1793 


- 95 


John Ogden, 


1743 


- 1795 


- 87 


Nehemiah Baldwin, 


1765 


- 1765 


- 43 


Joseph Riggs, 


- 1766 . 


- 1799 


- 79 


Nathaniel Camp, 


- . 1767 


- 1780 


- 82 


Dr. William Burnet, 


1768 


- 1791 


- 61 


The following names 


are taken from the Church records. 


The dates of 


decease, and ages, have been derived from other 


sources : 




Elders. 


Chosen. 


Died. 


Age. 


John Ogden, Esq., - 




- 1795 


- 87 


Ebenezer Baldwin, - 




- 1801 


- 77 


Job Foster, 




- 1793 


- 60 


Moses Farrand, 




- 1805 


- - 77 


Elihu Crane, 




- 1786 


- 60 


David Burnet, 




- 1800 


- 64 


Ephraim Morris, 








Stephen Baldwin, 




- 1816 


- 74 


Jonathan Baldwin, - 


1794 


- 1816 


- - 85 


Abiathar Dod, 


- • 1794 






Eleazer Bruen, 


1794 


- 1821 


- 80 



* On page 146, note, the name of John Ailing is mentioned. On reflection, I cloubt 
whether he was an elder for this Church. 



314 



APPENDIX. 



Elders. 


Chosen. 


Died. 


Age. 


Joseph Clisbe,* 


1794 - 


. - 


Pm 


David D. Crane, t 


- 


- 1838 - 


- 75 


Isaac Ailing, 


1799 - 


- 1819 - 


- 70 


Jabez Baldwin, 


1799 - 


- 1820 - 


- 67 


Joseph Keen,:]: 


1802 - 


. . 


. 


Joseph Conger, 


1802 - 


- 1820 - 


- 60 


Nathaniel Beach, 


1802 - 


- 1808 - 


- 53 


James Tichenor, 


1802 - 


- 1839 - 


- 68 


Moses Roberts, § 


1808 - 


- 1853 - 


- 87 


Isaac Nichols, 


1808 


- 


- 


Oliver Wade,fl 


1811 - 


- 1822 - 


- 40 


Stephen Hays, jr., IF - 


1811 






Joseph 0. Hornblower, 


1811 






Halsted Coe,** 


1816 - 


- 1832 - 


- 73 


William Tuttle, 


1816 - 


- 1847 - 


- 65 


Obadiah Woodruff, - 


1820 - 


- 1842 - 


- 74 


Hugh McDougal,tt - 


1820 






Moses Smith, 


1820 - 


- 1833 - 


- 52 


Jesse Baldwin, 


1824 - 


- 1839 - 


- 81 


John Poinier, 


- ; 1824 - 


- 1834 - 


- 66 


Isaac N. Beach, 


- ; 1824 - 


- 1835 - 


- 45 


Aaron Nichols, 


1832 






Archibald Woodruff', 


1832 






Peter Jacobus, 


1832 






Charles C, Williams, If 


- " 1832 






John Taylor, 


1843 






Uzal J. Tuttle, 


1843 






Samuel P. Smith,§§ - 


1843 






Caleb Baldwin, Jr.,|||| 


1843 






Joseph N. Tuttle, - 


1852 






Demas Colton, 


1852 






Preserved H. Porter, 


1852 






Cornelius I. Jacobus, 


1852 







* Removed to the State of New York 
in 1800, and became an Elder there, 
t Dismissed to the Third Church, 1824. 
% Removed to the Second Church. 
§ Dismissed to the Third Church, 1824. 
11 Removed to Springfield about 1816. 
% Licensed to preach, 1825. 



** Dismissed to the Second Church, 
1825. 

ft Dismissed to the Third Church. 
XX Removed West. 

Removed to form the South Park 
Church, 1853. 
Ill Removed to Orange, 1851. 



APPENDIX. 



315 



DEACOX8. 


Chosen. 


Died. 


Age. 


Lawrence Ward, 


- 


- 16G9 - 


- — 


Michael Tompkins, - 


- 


- 1C90 - 


- — 


Richard Lawrence, - 





- 1691 - 


- — 


Azariah Crane, 





- 1730 - 


- 83 


Joseph Canfield, 


— : • 


- 1733 - 


- 52 


James Wheeler,* 


— - 


- 1747 - 


- 63 


Samuel Ailing, * 


— - 


- 1793 - 


- 95 


Stephen Baldwin, 


— - 


- 1783 - 


- 76 


Caleb Wheeler, 


- — • - 


- 1793 - 


- 76 


Ebenezer Baldwin, - 


-. 


- 1801 - 


- 77 


Stephen Baldwin, - 


1794 - 


- 1816 - 


- 74 


Ephraim Morris, t - 


1794 - 


; . 


- — 


Isaac Ailing, 


1802 - 


- 1819 - 


- 70 


James Tichenor, 


- 


- 1839 - 


- 68 


Isaac Nichols, 








Obadiah Woodruff, 


1824 - 


- 1842 - 


- 74 


Aaron Nichols, 








William Tuttle, 




- 1847 - 


- 65 


Jos. C. Hornblower, 


- * 1852 






John Taylor, 


1852 







* From an old deed I learn that James Wheeler and Samuel AlliDg were Deacons 
as early as 1744. 

+ Removed to Bloomfield. 



TRUSTEES OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWARK. 



ITiose designated by small capitals were Presidents of the Board. 





Appointed. 




Appointed. 


Christopher Wood, 


- 1753 


Caleb Camp, junior, 


- 1781 


John Crane, 




Joseph Baldwin, 


- 1781 


Nathaniel Camp, 




Joseph Alling, 


prior to 1783 


Joseph Camp, 




Alexander Eagles, 


- 1783 


Jonathan Sergeant, 




Elisha Boudinot, 


- 1784 


Joseph Riggs, 




John Johnson, 


- 1786 


Israel Crane, 




Isaac Ailing, 


- 1787 


Sam'l Pennington, resigned 1781 


Joseph Davis, 


- 1788 


Thos. Canfield, " 


« 


Nathaniel Beach, 


- 1793 


Caleb Wheeler, 


prior to 1781 


Daniel Johnson, 


- 1787 


Samuel Curry, 


" 1781 


Jesse Baldwin, 


- 1787 


Benjamin Coe, 


" 1781 


Nathaniel Beach, 


- 1793 



316 



APPENDIX. 



Trustees. 


Appointed. 


Trustees. 


Appointed. 


Abraham Ward, 


- 1790 


John Poinier, 


- 1820 


John Burnet, 


- 1795 


James Bruen, 


- 1820 


Joseph Brown, 


- 1796 


Aaron Nichols, 


- 1822 


Joseph Camp, 


- 1790 


Caleb S. Riggs, 


- 1823 


Caleb Wheeler, 


- 1797 


Frederick S. Thomas, - 


- 1826 


Nathaniel Camp, 


- 1797 


William Pennington, - 


- 1827 


John N. Cumming, 


. - 1798 


Philo Sanford, 


- 1828 


Samuel Whitaker, 


- 1798 


Peter Jacobus, 


- 1828 


Samuel Hay, 


- 1801 


Isaac Baldwin, 


- 1832 


Moses Roberts, 


- 1801 


Jedediah J. Baldwin, - 


- 1833 


Jeremiah Baldwin, 


- 1802 


John W. Poinier, 


- 1833 


Moses Baldwin, 


- 1802 


Gabriel Tichenor, 


- 1834 


Stephen Hays, 


- 1802 


James H. Robinson, 


- 1835 


Joseph T. Baldwin, 


- 1805 


Joseph A. Halsey, 


- 1836 


Isaac Andruss, 


- 1806 


P. H. Porter, 


- 1836 


Robert B. Campfield, - 


- 1809 


Moses B. Coe, 


- 1837 


Nehemiah Baldwin, 


- 1809 


Lyndon A. Smith, 


- 1838 


James Hedden, 


- 1811 


Joseph N. Tuttle, 


- 1841 


David Nichols, 


- 1811 


Samuel H. Pennington, 


- 1841 


Lewis Thibou, 


- 1811 


Charles S. Macknet, 


- 1846 


Uzal Sayres, 


- 1812 


Demas Colton, 


- 1851 


Silas Condit, 


- 1812 


Horace H. Nichols, 


- 1851 


David Tichenor, 


- 1815 


Ira M. Harrison, 


- 1852 


Caleb Carter, 


- 1817 


Algernon S. Hubbell, - 


- 1853 


Moses Smith, 


- 1818 


William Shugard, 


- 1853 


John Taylor, 


- 1820 







Some of the persons in the above list served but a single year ; others 
two or three years. Some were re-elected several times, with greater or 
less intervals. 



The Bulding Committee who had charge of the erection of the present 



house of worship, were- 

Caleb Wheeler, 
Caleb Camp, 
Nathaniel Camp, 
Joseph Banks, 



William P. Smith, 
Samuel Hayes, 
Benjamin Coe, 
Joseph Davis, 



Moses Farrancl, 
Isaac Plum, 
Abiel Camfield, 
Abraham Ward, 



Isaac Ailing, 



Daniel Johnson. 



REFERENCES 



To the Town Plot and Home Lots of the First Settlers of Pesayak Towne 
—New Work, or Newark— in 1 606-1 G80: 



In the N< 

A Deacon Laurance Ward. 

B John Catlin. [1] 

G Samuel Kitchell. 

D Josiah Ward. 

E John Rogers. 

F Robert Kitchell. 

G Jeremiah Pecke. 

H Obadiah Bruen. 

I The Seaman's Lot. [2] 



East Section. 

J Thomas Richards. 

K John Harrison. 

L Aaron Blatchlv. 

M Stephen Davis. 

j\ r Samuel Plum. 

John Crane. 

P The Boatman's Lot. [8] 

Q Robert Lymon. 

It John Davis. 



Ix THE NORTH WEST SeCTIOX. 



A Lieutenant Samuel Swaine. 

B Serjeant Richard Harrison. 

C Edward Rail. 

D John Morris, in in 68. 

E John Ward, senior. 

F Matthew Camfield. 

G Abraham Pierson, junior. 

H Jasper Crane. 

I Thomas Pierson, sen ior. 

J Benjamin Baldwin. 

K Thomas Huntington. 



L Alexander Munrow. 

M The Elders' Lot. [4] 

N John Ward, juri r, the turner. 

Beacon Richard Laurance. 

P Delivered Crane. 

Q Hans Albers. 

R Samuel Rose. 

S The Millers Lot. [5] 

T Samuel Dod. 

TT Daniel Dod. 

V The Corn Mill. 



Tx the South East Section. 
A Captain Robert Treat. [6] E George Day. 

B Abraham Pierson, senior. F Nathaniel Wheeler. 

C Robert Denison. G Joseph Riggs. 

D Thomas Johnson. William Camp. 



318 



REFERENCES. 



/ Martin Tichenor. 

J Stephen Freeman. 

K John Curtis. [7] 

L John Baldwin, senior. 

M Thomas Staples. 

JSf John Baldwin, junior. 

Beacon Michael Tomkins. 

P Jonathan Tomkins. 



Q Ephraim Pennington. 
R Seth Tomkins. 
S The Tailor's Lot. [8] 
T Thomas Pierson, junior. 

U Samuel Harrison. 

V John Browne, junior. 

W Edward Riggs. 
X Hush Roberts. 



In the South Y 

A The Meeting House Lot. [9] 

B Captain Treat's extra. [10] 

G John Johnson. 

B Parsonage Home Lot. [11] 

E John Browne, senior. 

F Stephen Bond. 

Gf Zachariah Burwell. 

H Ephraim Burwell. 

/ Thomas Ludington. 

J John Brooks. 

K Thomas Lyon. 



;t Section. 

L Joseph Johnson. 

M John Treat. 

JV John Gregory. [12] 

Henry Lyon. 

P Joseph Walters. 

Q Samuel Camfield. 

R Robert Dalglish, (Douglass.) 

8 Francis Linsley. 

T Matthew Williams. [13] 

U Walter's second division. 



NOTES. 



[1J In 1693 granted to the Rev. John Prudden. 

[2] In 1GT3 granted by the town to Ebenezer Dod. 

[3] In 1CT0 Jonathan Sergeant's " by exchange." 

[4] Granted to John Ward, junior, and John Johnson, in 1678, for their 
sons. 

[5] In 1083 one-half Richard Harrison's " by exchange." 

[6[ In 1673 Azariah Crane's, the son-in-law of Captain Robert Treat. 

[7] "John Curtis hath for his home-lot six acres, be it more or less, being 
bounded with Stephen Freeman, north ; John Bauldwin, senior, 
south ; the highway west, and y e town swamp east, about two or 
three rods in y e swamp east." — (Town Book) On this tract is the 
present parsonage of the First Presbyterian Church. It 1756 it was 
the property of Mr. Burr. In 1738 it was Mr. Webb's. 

[8] In 1672 granted to Samuel Lyon. 

]9] "All that small tract allotted for the burying-place taking in the pond 
and meeting-house, being seven chains in length and four in breadth, 
bounded west by John Treat, south by John Johnson, north and east 
by highways."— Town Patent, 1696. 

[10] " Item. Mr. Robert Treat had given him two acres of land in y e town 

plot, near the frog-pond, in lieu of his great and expense with 

y e Indians about purchasing y e lands, which is bounded with y e high- 
ways west and north, and y e pond and swamp east and south." — 
Town Boole. 

[11] "A home lot, in length ten chains, breadth at the east and middle 
three chains lacking six feet, and at the west end four chains and 
three-quarters." — {Town Patent.) On this stood the parsonage 
house occupied by Mr. Burr, and in which Dr. Macwhorter died. 



320 



NOTES. 



[12] In 1688 the Town, sold to Henry Lyon "that home lot that was for- 
merly John Gregory's by exchange, that lyeth next his own consist- 
ing of seven acres, for Ten Pounds, seven pounds whereof he is to 
pay by discharging the Town of their country rate, and three pounds 
he is to procure shingle nails for, as soon as he can, or to do his true 
endeavour to get them." — Town Record. 

[13] In 1680, ten acres, part of a second division. 

The road to " the landing-place," now Fulton street, was laid out in 1670, 
and again in, 1735. 

High street was laid out and staked " as the path runs" in 1695, two rods 
wide. 

The line of asterisks indicate the location of the common fence for the 
protection of " the neck," of which each planter maintained his just propor- 
tion as determined by a committee. 

The engraver has made the biook from the town swamp run into the 
river, which is incorrect. 

The sketch on the left hand represents the second meeting-house, in which 
David Brainerd was ordained. That on the right, with armed men watch- 
ing, the first meeting-house, " 36 feet square." The number, size, form and 
position of the windows and doors in the latter is uncertain. 



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82 



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